The quotations of

George S. Patton

United States Army general

1885–1945

28 quotes, most often on War & Peace, Leadership and Fear.

Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.
Often credited to Thomas Paine
- Leadership
The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
- War & Peace
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
- War & Peace
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.
- Decisions
- Fear
Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.
- Risk
If a man does his best, what else is there?
- Work
Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.
- Risk
A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood.
- Work
Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.
- Success
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
War As I Knew It (1947) “Reflections and Suggestions”
- Leadership
Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.
Cavalry Journal (September 1933)
- War & Peace
If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do… the body is never tired if the mind is not tired.
- Thinking
Don’t tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.
War As I Knew It (1947) “Reflections and Suggestions”
- Leadership
If you can’t get them to salute when they should salute and wear the clothes you tell them to wear, how are you going to get them to die for their country?
- Leadership
All men are timid on entering any fight. Whether it is the first or the last fight, all of us are timid. Cowards are those who let their timidity get the better of their manhood.
War As I Knew It
- Fear
- War & Peace

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