Quotes by George Smith Patton

There is a time to take counsel of your fears, and there is a time to never listen to any fear.
George Smith Patton

You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals.
George Smith Patton

A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.
George Smith Patton

If we take the generally accepted definition of bravery as a quality which knows no fear, I have never seen a brave man. All men are frightened. The more intelligent they are, the more they are frightened.
George Smith Patton

All very successful commanders are prima donnas and must be so treated.
George Smith Patton

Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.
George Smith Patton

Always do everything you ask of those you command.
George Smith Patton

Battle is an orgy of disorder.
George Smith Patton

Do your damnedest in an ostentatious manner all the time.
George Smith Patton

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base. All men are afraid in battle. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. Duty is the essence of manhood.
George Smith Patton

Better to fight for something than live for nothing.
George Smith Patton

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
George Smith Patton

Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.
George Smith Patton

I do not fear failure. I only fear the "slowing up" of the engine inside of me which is pounding, saying, "Keep going, someone must be on top, why not you?"
George Smith Patton

The leader must be an actor. But with him as with his bewigged counterpart he is unconvincing unless he lives his part.
George Smith Patton

I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.
George Smith Patton

Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.
George Smith Patton

If a man does his best, what else is there?
George Smith Patton

Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.
George Smith Patton

If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you'll be amazed at the results.
George Smith Patton

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
George Smith Patton

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

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 Smith Patton

Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn't give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor ever lose a war.
George Smith Patton

Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
George Smith Patton

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.
George Smith Patton

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.
George Smith Patton

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.
George Smith Patton

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
George Smith Patton

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.
George Smith Patton

The test of success is not what you do when you are on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.
George Smith Patton

A piece of spaghetti or a military unit can only be led from the front end.
George Smith Patton

If a man has done his best, what else is there?
George Smith Patton

A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood.
George Smith Patton

The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That's the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead!
George Smith Patton

Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets.
George Smith Patton

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.
George Smith Patton

There is only one sort of discipline, perfect discipline.
George Smith Patton

Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.
George Smith Patton