“What you did was the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all of the armies of Europe.”

—  Ferdinand Foch

To Alvin C. York, on his extraordinary capture of over a hundred enemy troops behind enemy lines, as quoted in the Preface of Sergeant York And His People (1922) http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19117 by Sam K. Cowan

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "What you did was the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all of the armies of Europe." by Ferdinand Foch?
Ferdinand Foch photo
Ferdinand Foch 32
French soldier and military theorist 1851–1929

Related quotes

James Eastland photo

“I state that the conduct. of the Negro soldier in Normandy, as well as all over Europe, was disgraceful, and that Negro soldiers have disgraced ·the fiag of their country. They consti-tute roughly one-twelfth of the Ameri-can Army, yet they are guilty ·of more than half tpe crime in-the Army.”

James Eastland (1904–1986) American politician

1940s

William Winwood Reade photo

“It is a sure criterion of the civilisation of ancient Egypt that the soldiers did not carry arms except on duty, and that the private citizens did not carry them at all.”

William Winwood Reade (1838–1875) British historian

Source: The Martyrdom of Man (1872), Chapter I, "War", p. 13.

“If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.”

Brian Tracy (1944) American motivational speaker and writer
Eleanor Roosevelt photo

“As for accomplishments, I just did what I had to do as things came along.”

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
James Longstreet photo

“General, I have been a soldier all my life. I have been with soldiers engaged in fights by couples, by squads, companies, regiments, divisions, and armies, and should know, as well as any one, what soldiers can do. It is my opinion that no fifteen thousand men ever arranged for battle can take that position.”

James Longstreet (1821–1904) Confederate Army general

As quoted in General James Longstreet: The Confederacy's Most Controversial Soldier: A Biography https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0671709216 (1993), by Jeffry D. Wert, New York: Simon & Schuster, p. 283

E.M. Forster photo

“Love is a great force in private life; it is indeed the greatest of all things; but love in public affairs does not work.”

E.M. Forster (1879–1970) English novelist

"Tolerance"
Two Cheers for Democracy (1951)

Hjalmar Schacht photo

“One thing I fear, that you Americans will do the same thing that you did after the last war. I mean that you will pull out of here and leave Europe, then Russia will have her way. Private enterprise and individual rights will be lost just as much as under a Nazi government. Frightful!”

Hjalmar Schacht (1877–1970) German politician

To Leon Goldensohn (27 January 1946). Quoted in "The Nuremberg Interviews" - by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004.

Thomas Paine photo

“An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot”

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist

1790s, Agrarian Justice (1797)
Source: Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings
Context: An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot; it will succeed where diplomatic management would fall: it is neither the Rhine, the Channel, nor the ocean that can arrest its progress: it will march on the horizon of the world, and it will conquer.

Allen West (politician) photo

“When 9-11 happened, Pat Tillman quit the NFL. He gave up his million-dollar career, and humbled himself as a U. S. Army [sic] Soldier. And not just a Soldier, but as a U. S. Army Infantryman, a Ranger. Who can ever forget that picture of Tillman, an Army Private, marching in his graduation carrying his platoon guidon, that look of purpose, discipline, Americanism.”

Allen West (politician) (1961) American politician; retired United States Army officer

2010s, Folks, you’re missing the point about the NFL protests (19 October 2017)

Donald Rumsfeld photo

“As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time. Since the Iraq conflict began, the Army has been pressing ahead to produce the armor necessary at a rate that they believe -- it's a greatly expanded rate from what existed previously, but a rate that they believe is the rate that is all that can be accomplished at this moment.”

Donald Rumsfeld (1932) U.S. Secretary of Defense

[Troops put Rumsfeld in the hot seat, http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/08/rumsfeld.kuwait/index.html, 2006-04-07, 2004-12-08, CNN]
Responding to the question "Now why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up armor our vehicles, and why don't we have those resources readily available to us?"
2000s

Related topics