“Your job is not to die for your country. Your job is to get the other poor sonofabitch to die for his country.”

— Ben Bova

Orion Among The Stars (1995)

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

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Ben Bova 4

American science fiction and science writer 1932

Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo

Source: Magic Burns

“Do you know what happens when you play a country song backwards? You get your wife back, your dog back and your job back.”

Richard Belzer (1944) American actor and comedian

“If you're born poor it's not your fault, but if you die poor it's your fault.”

Bill Gates (1955) American business magnate and philanthropist

Quoted in various publications, without any further sourcing. The quote is dubious in view of the Gates Foundation's public mission, "to lift people out of hunger and extreme poverty." Gates was born to an affluent family.
Misattributed

“You think you are dying for your country; you die for the industrialists.”

Anatole France (1844–1924) French writer

On croit mourir pour la patrie; on meurt pour les industriels.
L'Humanité (18 July 1922)

“So long as you are ready to die for Humanity, the life of your country is immortal.”

Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872) Italian patriot, politician and philosopher

On the Duties of Man (1844-58)

“Your job is to get your audience to care about your obsessions.”

Martin Scorsese (1942) American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor

“I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country.”

George S. Patton (1885–1945) United States Army general

Spoken by George C. Scott in the film Patton.
Variants:
No man ever won a war by dying for his country. Wars were won by making the other poor bastard die for his.
You don't win a war by dying for your country. You win a war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his.
War is not meant to be you dying for your country-it is by making the other bastard die for his.
Misattributed

“You know I have no political ambitions. My job is to command my army and see that it is kept as a first rate instrument. Your job is to look after the country.”

Sam Manekshaw (1914–2008) First Field marshal of the Indian Army

This was a reply he gave when Indira Gandhi called him to her chamber and confronted him with the question Are you trying to take over from me? [Jayakar, Pupul Jayakar, Indira Gandhi: A Biography, http://books.google.com/books?id=gm5JGkb2rhkC&pg=PA512, 27 November 1997, Penguin Books India, 978-0-14-011462-1, 215]

“You don't need to be 'straight' to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.”

Barry Goldwater (1909–1998) American politician

Statement of 10 June 1993, as quoted in "Goldwater Backs Gay Troops" in The New York Times (11 June 1993); also quoted in Barry Goldwater (1995), by Robert Alan Goldberg, p. 332.

“Transferring your passion to your job is far easier than finding a job that happens to match your passion.”

Seth Godin (1960) American entrepreneur, author and public speaker

Source: Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

“Your job is not to die for your country. Your job is to get the other poor sonofabitch to die for his country.”

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