George Patton: Cytaty po angielsku (strona 2)

George Patton był amerykański generał. Cytaty po angielsku.
George Patton: 130   Cytatów 55   Polubień

“There is no proof nor yet any denial. We were, We are, and we will be.”

Indicating some of his speculations about reincarnation, in a letter to his mother from Chamlieu, France during World War I (20 November 1917)
Kontekst: I wonder if I could have been here before as I drive up the Roman road the Theater seems familiar — perhaps I headed a legion up that same white road... I passed a chateau in ruins which I possibly helped escalade in the middle ages. There is no proof nor yet any denial. We were, We are, and we will be.

“Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.”

Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Kontekst: Every man is scared in his first battle. If he says he's not, he's a liar. Some men are cowards but they fight the same as the brave men or they get the hell slammed out of them watching men fight who are just as scared as they are. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood. Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.

“Through the travail of the ages,
Midst the pomp and toil of war,
Have I fought and strove and perished
Countless times upon this star.”

Through A Glass, Darkly (1918)
Kontekst: Through the travail of the ages,
Midst the pomp and toil of war,
Have I fought and strove and perished
Countless times upon this star. In the form of many people
In all panoplies of time
Have I seen the luring vision
Of the Victory Maid, sublime.

“It is rather interesting how you get used to death.”

Letter to Frederick Ayers (5 May 1943), published in The Patton Papers 1940-1945 (1996) edited by Martin Blumenson, p. 243
Kontekst: It is rather interesting how you get used to death. I have had to go to inspect the troops in which case you run a very good chance — or I should say a reasonable chance — of being bombed or shot at from the air, and shelled or shot at from the ground.
I had the same experience every day which is for the first half-hour the palms of my hands sweat and I feel depressed. Then, if one hits near you, it seems to break the spell and you don't notice them anymore. Going back in the evening over the same ground and at a time when the shelling and bombing are usually heavier, you become so used to it you never think about it.

“Wonder weapons… my God, I don't see the wonder in them. Killing without heroics, nothing is glorified… nothing is reaffirmed? No heroes, no cowards, no troops, no generals? Only those who are left alive… and those who are left dead. I'm glad I won't live to see it.”

Attributed as a quote in Charles W. Hudlin, "Morality and the Military Profession: Problems and Solutions", Military Ethics (National Defense University Press, 1987) http://books.google.com/books?id=B9EvXhH1ZVAC&pg=PA83; but Hudlin cites the biographical dramatization Patton (1970 film) which does not purport to use Patton's actual words.
Misattributed

“A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood.”

Letter (3 March 1944), later published in War As I Knew It (1947) Similar expressions were also used in his famous "Speech to the Third Army" in June 1944. The phrase is similar to one attributed to Erwin Rommel, "Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains saves both", and to an even older one by August Willich: "A drop of sweat on the drill ground will save many drops of blood on the battlefield" from The Army: Standing Army or National Army? (1866)

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”

Speech at the Copley Plaza Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts (7 June 1945), quoted in Patton : Ordeal and Triumph (1970) by Ladislas Farago

“Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man.”

Quoted in 50 Military Leaders Who Changed the World‎ (2007) by William Weir, p. 173
Unsourced variant: Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man. Anything built by man, can be destroyed by him.

“Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.”

As quoted in Textbook of Phacoemulsification (1988) by William F. Maloney and Lincoln Grindle, p. 79

“Fatigue makes cowards of all of us.”

War as I knew it (1947), as cited in Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations, By Hugh Rawson, Margaret Miner, p. 258 https://books.google.com/books?id=whg05Z4Nwo0C&pg=PA258(via books.google.com).

“Give me an army of West Point graduates, I'll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I'll win a war!”

Mike Province, founder and president of The Patton Society http://www.pattonhq.com/ calls this an urban legend and in the Texas A&M Battalion (2 October 2006) http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2006/10/02/Aggielife/Traditionally.Speaking-2319058.shtml?sourcedomain=www.thebatt.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com is quoted as saying "I've gotten e-mails and questions regarding that quote for several years... People will use it with Texas Aggies, The Citadel, Virginia Military Institute and even Clemson. All of these schools want to be linked to Patton... Anything is possible... I honestly don't believe he said it, because I've heard too many people say that he said it about their school. But if anyone out there can find proof that he said it, I'd love to hear about it and get it out there." If any school has a claim, it is the Virginia Military Institute; Patton's grandfather, grand-uncles, and his father all were VMI graduates. Patton himself spent a year at VMI before going to West Point. VMI has many George Patton relics donated by his family in its museum. Please also note that the photo of Patton as a cadet has him wearing a VMI coatee and cap.
Misattributed

“Rommel, you magnificent bastard! I read your book!”

Spoken by George C. Scott in the film Patton, portraying his defeat of what he thought were forces under the command of Erwin Rommel; however, the book portrayed in that film is purely fictional — Rommel never finished the book he was writing on tank warfare, but did write a book on his experiences in WW I. It was widely read, regarded a classic of modern military tactics, and published in abbreviated form for study by US army officers.
Misattributed

“My men can eat their belts, but my tanks have gotta have gas.”

On the gasoline supplies for his tanks, as quoted in The Struggle for Europe‎ (1972) by Chester Wilmot, p. 473