“The publicity I have been getting, a good deal of which is untrue, and the rest of it ill considered, has done me more harm than good.”

—  George S. Patton

Letter to Frederick Ayers (5 May 1943), published in The Patton Papers 1940-1945 (1996) edited by Martin Blumenson, p. 242
Context: The publicity I have been getting, a good deal of which is untrue, and the rest of it ill considered, has done me more harm than good. The only way you get on in this profession is to have the reputation of doing what you are told as thoroughly as possible. So far I have been able to accomplish that, and I believe I have gotten quite a reputation from not kicking at peculiar assignments.

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George S. Patton 77
United States Army general 1885–1945

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