263 quotes found
"The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again."
"In wars, boy, fools kill other fools for foolish causes."
"Weep for what is lost forever."
"What is already woven cannot be undone. It will not make the trees grow again for you to bring the building down on our heads."
"Think if you want to stay alive. Fear will kill you if you don't control it."
"You'll use it [Perrin's axe], boy, and as long as you hate using it, you would use it more wisely than most men would. Wait. If ever you don't hate it any longer, then will be the time to throw it as far as you can and run the other way."
"Nobody tells us how to be men. We just are."
"The best lie is often one too ridiculous to be taken for a lie."
"The fact that the price must be paid is proof it is worth paying."
"The rose petal floats on water. The kingfisher flashes above the pond. Life and beauty swirl in the midst of death."
"When you have never known a thing except to dream, it becomes more than a talisman."
"I will never shame you. I will hate the man you choose because he is not me, and love him if he makes you smile. No woman deserves the sure knowledge of widow's black as her brideprice, you least of all."
"The leaf lives its appointed time, and does not struggle against the wind that carries it away. The leaf does no harm, and finally falls to nourish new leaves. So it should be with all men. And women."
"Teach him how you will, a pig will never play the flute."
"Take life as it comes. Run when you have to, fight when you must, rest when you can."
"An Aes Sedai never lies, but the truth she speaks, may not be the truth you think you hear."
"A pig painted gold is still a pig."
"Perrin ran a hand through his hair. The more he found out about kings, the less he liked them."
"It isn't swords or brawn we need now," Nynaeve said, "but brains. Men usually think with the hairs on their chests." She touched her chest absently, as if feeling for something through her coat. "Most of them do."
"Jump in a hole without looking, and there’ll be a snake in it every time."
"In the Borderlands, sheepherder, if a man has the raising of a child, that child is his, and none can say different."
"Love is an odd thing. As odd a thing as there is."
"Here, southlander, you can't quit while you are winning. Better than when I'm losing."
"Soon comes the day all shall be free. Even you, and even me. Soon comes the day all shall die. Surely you, but never I."
"It's never over, al'Thor. The battle's never done."
"There is an old saying here in the Borderlands: "Better to have one woman on your side than ten men.""
"There is one rule, above all others, for being a man. Whatever comes, face it on your feet."
"Men often mistake killing and revenge for justice. They seldom have the stomach for justice."
"My mother always told me the best way to learn to deal with a man was to learn to ride a mule. She said they have about equal brains most of the time. Sometimes the mule is smarter."
"Men! When you cannot win an argument, you either run away or resort to force."
"I may be a fool, but I intend to be a live fool."
"A man who will not die to save a woman is no man."
"All men dream. But I know dreams for dreams. This is reality."
"A shaping stone, to make us; a testing ground, to prove our worth; and a punishment for the sin."
"You break your neck, and I’ll see it mended just so I can break it again."
"Always plan for the worst, child; that way, all your surprises will be pleasant ones."
"Should and would build no bridges."
"When there are fish heads and blood in the water, you don’t need to see the silverpike to know they are there."
"A flapping tongue has killed more men than sudden storms ever did."
"Once you decide to gut a fish, there’s no use waiting till it rots."
"Death comes for us all. We can only choose how to face it when it comes."
"Any fool knows men and women think differently at times, but the biggest difference is this. Men forget, but never forgive; women forgive, but never forget."
"Do you know how to unite the people behind you, Child Carridin? The quickest way? Loose a lion - a rabid lion - in the streets. And when panic grips the people, once it has turned their bowels to water, calmly tell them you will deal with it. Then you kill it, and order them to hang the carcass up where everyone can see. Before they have time to think, you give another order, and it will be obeyed. And if you continue to give orders, they will continue to obey, for you will be the one who saved them, and who better to lead?"
"Tonight you will eat fish. Tomorrow, you may die."
"...but who can know the heart of a man? Not even he himself, I suspect. A man is the easiest animal to put on a leash, and the hardest to keep leashed. Even when he chooses it himself."
"Most of those we call heroes only did what they had to do."
"Men always seem to refuse to admit they are sick until they’re sick enough to make twice as much work for women. Then they claim they’re well too soon, with the same result."
"Trust is as slippery as a basket of eels sometimes."
"One pretty woman means fun at the dance. Two pretty women mean trouble in the house. Three pretty women mean run for the hills."
"If a woman does need a hero, she needs him today, not tomorrow."
"I have heard it said that a man caught between his wife and a Wise One often wishes for a dozen old enemies to fight instead. A man caught between a wife and three Wise Ones, and the wife a Wise One herself, must consider trying to slay Sightblinder."
"A bloody hero. Thom, if I ever look like acting the hero again, you kick me." "And what would you have done differently?" "Just kick me!"
"Better ten days of love than years of regretting."
"Men! Too blind to see what a stone could see, and too stubborn to be trusted to think for themselves."
"The arrogance of men never ceases to amaze me. You all think everything has to do with you, and every woman has to desire you."
"To lead is neither to push or pull."
"Nimble finger and nimble wits will take you a good deal further than a sword and muscles. Sharp eyes help as well, but fortunately, I have these things."
"It is better to be the hammer than the nail."
"Men fight when they should run, and fools fight when they should run. But I had no need to say it twice."
"I expect a civil word for a civil word!"
"There's no time for winking at the men when you're busy bailing the boat."
"Surprising what you can dig out of books if you read long enough, isn't it?"
"You read too much and understand too little."
"Prophecy is most dangerous when you try to make it happen... The Pattern weaves itself around you, but when you try to weave it, even you cannot hold it."
"The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, and we are only the thread of the Pattern."
"On the heights, the paths are paved with daggers."
"No wine for me. Strange enough things happen when my head is clear. I want to know the difference."
"You have made a place in my heart where I thought there was no room for anything else. You have made flowers grow where I cultivated dust and stones. Remember this, on this journey you insist on making. If you die, I will not survive you long."
"As well you try to understand the sun, Perrin. It simply is, and it is not to be understood. You cannot live without it, but it exacts a price. So with women."
"For the young, death is an enemy they wish to try their strength against. For those of us a little older, she is an old friend, an old lover, but one we are not eager to meet again soon."
"You have to understand, child. Everyone wants someone in their life, someone who cares for them, someone they can care for. Even a queen."
"You could weave silk from pig bristles before you could make a man anything but a man."
"A weeping woman is a bucket with no bottom."
"It is better to guide people than try to hammer them into a line."
"Do not trouble trouble till trouble troubles you."
"A ship is alive, and he is like a man, with a true man’s heart. Treat him well and care for him properly, and he will fight for you against the worst sea. He will fight to keep you alive even after the sea has long since given him his own deathstroke. Neglect him, though, ignore the small warnings he gives of danger, and he will drown you in a flat sea beneath a cloudless sky."
"Humankind is made for uncertainty, struggle, choice and change."
"If you plan for the worst, all surprises are pleasant."
"I’ll not have you bleeding to death on me. That would be just like you, to die and leave me the work of burying you. You have no consideration."
"Courage to strengthen, fire to blind, music to daze, iron to bind."
"A flapping tongue can put you in the net instead of the fish."
"Fall in love with a man, and you end up doing laundry, even if it does belong to another man."
"It seems to me that kings — and queens — can be fools when they forget what they are and act like who they are, but they’re worse when they only remember what they are and forget who."
"If you fell head first into a pigsty, you'd try to convince everybody you did it on purpose."
"That was all he ever really wanted from women; a smile, a dance, a kiss, and to be remembered fondly."
"The Creator made women to please the eye and trouble the mind."
"We are alike in many ways, you and I. There is a darkness in us. Darkness, pain, death. They radiate from us. If ever you love a woman, Rand, leave her and let her find another. It will be the best gift you can give her."
"We all have our limits. And we set them further out than we have any right."
"The more women there are about, the softer a wise man steps."
"A man is a man, on a throne or in a pigsty."
"Not thinking about a thorn doesn’t make it hurt your foot less."
"A fool puts her hand into a hollow tree without finding out what’s inside first."
"If you don’t look for snakes, you cannot complain when one bites you."
"A gnarled old branch dulls the blade that severs a sapling."
"When the honey’s out of the comb, there’s no putting it back."
"Better to face the bear than run from it."
"A fool puts a burr under the saddle before she rides."
"At my age, if I make it up, it’s still an old saying."
"Men always believe they are in control of everything around them. When they find out they are not, they think they have failed, instead of learning a simple truth women already know."
"When a woman says she will obey you, of her own will, it is time to sleep lightly and watch your back."
"I lead no armies, Warder. I command nothing save myself, and not always that."
"I trust you like a brother. Until the day you betray me. You have a parole for what you’ve done, in return for your teaching, and a better bargain than you deserve, but the day you turn against me, I will tear it up and bury it with you."
"Better to try understanding the sun than a woman."
"Even a queen stubs her toe, but a wise woman watches the path."
"If you must mount the gallows, give a jest to the crowd, a coin to the hangman, and make the drop with a smile on your lips."
"Never kiss a girl whose brothers have knife scars."
"Never gamble without knowing a back way out."
"I can rest when I’m dead."
"The louder a man tells you he’s honest, the harder you must hold onto your purse."
"The fox often offers the duck its pond."
"Waiting turns men into bears in a barn, and women into cats in a sack."
""Wish" and "want" trip the feet, but "is" makes the path smoother."
"I will see you tonight. Or I will see you dead."
"I would burn the world and use my soul for tinder to hear her laugh again."
"It was easier to trip a fool than to knock him down."
"I’m no lord. I’ve more respect for myself than that."
"Stopping a man from what he wants to do is like taking a sweet from a child. Sometimes you have to do it, but sometimes it just isn’t worth the trouble."
"If you are not mine, then you are dead."
"Take what you can have. Rejoice in what you can save, and do not mourn your losses too long."
"There’s no point letting honey age too long before you eat it."
"It’s too late to change your mind after you’ve jumped off the cliff."
"The lions sing and the hills take flight. The moon by day, and the sun by night. Blind woman, deaf man, jackdaw fool. Let the Lord of Chaos rule."
"A slow horse does not always reach the end of the journey."
"The best way to apologize to a man is to trip him in a secluded part of the garden."
"Clutch the bramble and you will be pricked."
"The only way to live is to die. I must die. I deserve only death."
"Victors write history."
"Men believe the worst easily, and women believe it hides something still darker."
"A woman’s eyes cut deeper than a knife."
"Dance with her, and she will forgive much; dance well, and she will forgive anything."
"Dance well with a woman, and she’s halfway yours."
"No man should have another man's voice in his head."
"An arrow may not be a shocklance, yet it can still kill you."
"What can’t be changed must be endured."
"The pike does not ask the frog’s permission before dining."
"We are all fools sometimes, child, yet a wise woman learns to limit how often."
"What is too absurd to believe is believed because it is too absurd to be a lie."
"If I could find a way to escape my destiny, do I deserve to?"
"We hear less, Davram Bashere, but perhaps sometimes we see more."
"Pride fills me. I am sick with the pride that destroyed me."
"A man must know when to retreat from a woman, but a wise man knows that sometimes he must stand and face her."
"There was a price to be paid for any decision he made. There was a price for who he was. Other people paid it."
"First things first; take care of what can be done now before worrying too long over what might never be."
"A man without trust might as well be dead."
"The best way to avoid trouble is to make sure no one wants to trouble you."
"You must surrender before you can guide."
"If wishes were wings, pigs would fly."
"What you need isn’t always what you want."
"A man's dreams are a maze even he cannot know."
"How people see you first is what they hold hardest in their minds. It is the way of the world. You can step down from a throne], and even if you behave like a farmer in a pigsty, some part in each of them will remember that you did descend from a throne. But if they see only a young man first, a country man, they will resent him stepping up to his throne later, whatever his right, whatever his power."
"The Wheel of Time and the wheel of a man's life turn alike without pity or mercy."
"You never escape the traps you spin yourself. Only a greater power can break a power, and then you're trapped again. Trapped forever so you cannot die."
"What you want is what you cannot have. What you cannot have is what you want."
"The yellowfly is almost too small to see, but if you leave its egg in your skin, you will lose an arm or leg before it hatches - if it does not kill you."
"Death rides on my shoulder, death walks in my footsteps. I am death."
"The wheel of a man's life. No mercy. No pity."
"If it hurts too much, make it hurt someone else instead."
"Nothing ever goes as you expect. Expect nothing, and you will not be surprised. Expect nothing. Hope for nothing. Nothing."
"Break the seals. Break the seals, and end it. Let me die forever."
"When a young woman's cheeks redden for no apparent reason, there is usually a man involved."
"A cat for a hat, or a hat for a cat. But nothing for nothing."
"You cannot please everyone. You cannot soothe everyone."
"What I love I destroy. What I destroy, I love."
"Women do not become exhausted, they only exhaust others."
"The road ahead of you is long, dark, and, I very much fear, bloodstained. I also very much fear that you will take us all down that road. But you must live to reach the end of it."
"Let most men have a finger, and they will have the whole hand before you know. Let a clan chief have a finger, and he will have the entire arm."
"When you wish for so long that you could hear something, and then suddenly, with no warning, you do, is like a lightning strike and rain on parched ground at the same time. You're stunned, but you cannot hear enough."
"Never prod at a woman unless you must. She will kill you faster than a man and for less reason, even if she weeps over it after."
"Let the dead rest, and care for the living."
"A crafty enemy will set a weak ambush you are meant to break through. Confident because you have dealt with the threat, your guard relaxed, you walk into the second, stronger ambush."
"Young men can be impetuous, young men can be rush, young men can be fools, but the Car'a'carn cannot let himself be a young man."
"By the look of you, Nynaeve, I could almost think you were angry, but I know you have such a sweet disposition people ask you to dabble your fingers in their tea."
"Caution once forgotten could be forgotten once too often."
"If you try putting a woman on a horse when she does not want to go, she may put a knife in your ribs."
"We are going to tickle some Aes Sedai under the chin, rescue a mule, and put a snip-nosed girl on the Lion Throne. Oh, yes. That's Aviendha. Don't look at her crosswise, or she'll try to cut your throat and probably slit her own by mistake."
"We are always more afraid than we wish to be, but we can always be braver than we expect."
"Men always say they didn't mean it that way. You would think they spoke a different language."
"If the world is ending, a woman will want time to fix her hair. If the world's ending, a woman will take time to to tell a man something he's done wrong."
"There are things worth fighting for."
"You cannot tell a man he has the power to make the earth shake, then expect him to walk small."
"If you pursue two hares, both will escape you."
"Often you don't know whether a woman is friend, enemy or lover until it is too late. Sometimes, she is all three."
"Cheer the bull, or cheer the bear; cheer both, and you will be trampled and eaten."
"I will use anybody I must. You said it yourself; I am who I am. And I'm using myself up, Perrin, because I have to. Just like I'll use anybody I have to. We don't have a choice anymore. Not me, not you, not anybody!"
"I always thought the stole weighed about as much as three good men. The Amyrlin has few easy decisions to make, and fewer where she can be sure. Do what you must, and pay the price if you’re wrong. Sometimes if you are right, too."
"Honor? Maybe they're letting him sleep on silk, but a prisoner is still a prisoner."
"The only man completely at peace is a man without a navel."
"You always had to pay the butcher."
"Young men and fools sometimes bear pain they do not have to as a badge of their pride. Or their foolishness."
"If you don't know everything, you must go on with what you do know."
"Only a fool thinks his enemies stand still when he isn't looking, my Lord Dragon."
"Whatever can be done, can be undone."
"A jealous wife is like a hornets’ nest in your mattress."
"What woman could I hate enough to marry her to the Dragon Reborn?"
"When you leap from a cliff, it is too late for anything but holding to your courage. And hoping there's a haywain at the bottom to land in."
"The weak must be bold cautiously."
"Wounds to the pride are remembered long after wounds to the flesh."
"It is the enemy you underestimate who kills you."
"The more bosom a woman displayed, the less she wanted you to look. Openly, at least."
"On the heights, all paths are paved with daggers."
"When a woman plays the fool, look for the man. That was one of Lini's favorites. Another was, Kittens tangle your yarn, men tangle your wits, and it's simple as breathing for both."
"The dead are never silent."
"I killed the whole world, and you can too, if you try hard."
"I would not mind you in my head, if you were not so clearly mad."
"I think the woman was born in Far Madding in a thunderstorm. She probably told the thunder to be quiet. It probably did."
"A man who trusts everyone is a fool, and a man who trusts no one is a fool. We are all fools, if we live long enough."
"I thought I could build, I was wrong. We are not builders, not you, or I, or the other one. We are destroyers. Destroyers."
"We are dead men. Dead men should be quiet in their graves, but they never are."
"Any day you wake up, maybe you die."
"You can never know everything, and part of what you know is always wrong. Perhaps even the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that. A portion of courage lies in going on anyway."
"Sometimes, pain is all that lets you know you're alive."
"We rode on the winds of the rising storm, We ran to the sounds of thunder. We danced among the lightning bolts And tore the world asunder."
"A man should never give promises in bed."
"A beautiful battle is one you don't have to fight."
"The boy was dead eager, which could soon lead to plain dead."
"To fight the raven you may make alliance with the serpent until the battle is done."
"There is some delight in ale and wine And some in girls with ankles fine But my delight, yes always mine Is to dance with Jak O’ the Shadows We will toss the dice however they fall And snuggle the girls be they short or tall Then follow lord Mat whenever he calls To dance with Jak O’ the Shadows."
"Let the lord of chaos rule."
"Ravens and crows. Rats. Mists and clouds. Insects and corruption. Strange events and odd occurences. The ordinary twisted and strange. Wonders. The dead are beginning to walk and some see them. Others do not, but more and more, we all fear the night. These have been our days. They rain upon us beneath a dead sky, crushing us with their fury, until as one, we beg, "Let it begin.""
"The end is near," Moridin said. "The Wheel has groaned its final rotation, the clock has lost its spring, the serpent heaves its final gasps. He must know pain of heart. He must know frustration, and he must know anguish. Bring these to him. And you will be rewarded."
"Sometimes, a wife must do what her husband cannot."
"How was he to cause war, as the prophecies say he must? How was he to break the nations and bind them to him? How could he 'slay his people with the sword of peace' or 'bind the nine moons to serve him' if he was locked away? Do the prophecies say that he will be 'unfettered'? Do they not speak of the 'chaos of his passing'? How can anything pass at all if he is kept in chains?"
"We can't go back, Mat. The Wheel has turned, for better or worse. And it will keep turning, as lights die and forests dim, storms call and skies break. Turn it will. The Wheel is not hope, and the Wheel does not care, the Wheel simply is. But so long as it turns, folk may hope, folk may care. For with light that fades, another will eventually grow, and each storm that rages must eventually die. As long as the Wheel turns. As long is it turns...."
"[Aviendha] didn't trust change. It couldn't be spotted or stabbed; it was more silent than any scout, more deadly than any assassin. No, she'd never trust it, but she would accept it."
"The more tragic things get, the more I feel like laughing."
"At the end of time, when the many become one, the last storm shall gather its angry winds to destroy a land already dying. And at its center, the blind man shall stand upon his own grave. There he shall see again, and weep for what has been wrought."
"What could not be changed must be endured."
"Only the dead could afford oblivion."
"By the Creator at the moment of creation. May we shelter safe beneath the Light, in the Creator’s hand."
"A man’s word must be as good as an oath sworn beneath the Light or it was no good at all."
"Anger narrowed the vision and made for foolish choices."
"Death is lighter than a feather, duty heavier than a mountain."
"I don't know how long this thing will last... We can still lose this war. That's a real clear statement. I wouldn't be a goddamned bit surprised but that we can still lose it. And then you can just write those casualties off and those ever-increasing names on those ever-increasing monuments... You can keep putting them on the monuments and giving out all this crap, all this posthumous DSCs and Purple Hearts... but there's no end to this thing."
"Christ, I'm busy and there's a lot of people who wanna give me parties and I've got to go and say good-bye to the troops. And Jesus, we've got some great troops here, just great. I'm so kinda sad leaving them, just kinda sad. I was sittin' in the chopper today and I just bawled my goddamn head off, I just did. Funny... It isn't that I don't want to come home; I want to come home and I'm sick of this war a little bit. But leaving this unit is tough, and that's all there is to it."
"In each generation, as long as we are to remain a great nation, a group of us are somehow chosen, perhaps by the Almighty, to serve our country and our army and to serve the nation. Perhaps it is a small group, woefully inadequate, but it is there, and regardless of how we see it, regardless of the dwindling budget, the ancient outdated tanks of the 1920s and equipment, the congressional pressures to cut, cut, cut, that group will stay, and as the poet said: "Some for honor, and some for pay.""
"I've got to say the soldiers in Vietnam that I was associated with in my three tours, who were pretty much front-line troops, were the best I'd ever seen on any battlefield. The soldiers were up against some incredibly difficult rules of engagement. I'll tell you a story. It's a real good story. We had some villages to run civic action and medical help in. My engineer company built a school. We were in the village of Binh My, and we got some lumber to rebuild a schoolhouse. We were about two thirds of the way completed. We had a teacher hired who was a cripple. My engineer company was bringing in the supplies in an armored personnel carrier along the little road up to the schoolhouse and they hit a mine. Luckily nobody was seriously injured. Well, the engineers went out there and fixed the armored personnel carrier, and then continued right on building the school. I went up to them and said, "You all are pretty complacent about this." And they said, "Sir, that's our job." There's no way of telling who laid that mine. But it was someone who didn't want us to build that school. They knew we used that little trail. But we just went right on."
"Ever since I was a child I never wanted to be anything else but a soldier."
"While I was never over-romanced by the West Point graduate, at the same time, I always felt, by God, a West Pointer ought to be damn good."
"It was one of those hot days and it got to be about a hundred degrees, and old Mike just got fed up and threw his books in the corner, and said, 'See ya later, Doc, I'm going to war.' Next thing we heard, he was in Italy with the 3rd Division, where he later was awarded the Medal of Honor and received a battlefield promotion."
"A great transformation came over West Point. Many of the staff and faculty who had been there previously were non-combat experienced and had been called up from civilian life. Then in came the new superintendent, General Maxwell D. Taylor, who brought to the Department of Tactics a collection of the finest officers that I have ever known before, or since."
"The lessons of West Point are many, but the Academy has been the source of discipline, courage, and strength for many of its graduates in both peace and war since its founding in 1802."
"My father came to visit and spent about half a day with me during a weekend. At the time, September 1942, he was in a highly classified planning program for the attack on Morocco at Casablanca. He was unable to tell me anything about the operation, except that this would be the last time he would see me before going overseas. He said that I was not to tell anybody that he was going overseas, but that he was leaving soon. Of course, in those days, you didn't have too many privileges as a fourth classman, and besides there were so damned many generals at West Point, and in the Army, that his appearance, as I recall, didn't cause any particular stir. At the time he was a major general and had recently been training in Indio, California."
"I went home and stayed at Green Meadows. A couple of days later we all went up to Boston and the aircraft landed. I'll never forget it. My dad got out of the aircraft and he really looked super; he was fifty-nine years old at the time. With him in the aircraft were a couple of division commanders, including John W. O'Daniel, who had lost his son in the Normandy invasion and who later became my commanding general at the Infantry School at Fort Benning when I went through the basic officers course in 1946. Also aboard was Leon Johnson [USAF], who had been awarded the Medal of Honor for the Ploesti Raid, followed by eight or nine noncoms, not one of whom was wearing less than a Silver Star. All of this was followed by a ticker-tape parade through Boston. That evening my father spoke at the Shell on the Esplanade in Boston. We came home that night quite late and the next morning he came upstairs and woke me up and said we were going for breakfast. I ate breakfast with him and then I got on a train and went back to West Point. It was the last time I ever saw him."
"I was right in the middle of examinations when they called me up into the Tactical Department Office. Colonel Russel "Red" Reeder told me what had occurred. He went on to explain that my father had suffered a broken neck and was paralyzed. He also said that they were in communication and would keep me informed. I went back to my room and wrote a cable which I went on December 10, 1945. It said: All of us here are praying for your speedy recovery and return home. I know you can do it. Your affectionate son. George."
"I was still in Europe at the time. Truman said he had the authority to relieve him and he did it. I have never made up my mind whether he was right or not, but I happened to be with a British unit the night we learned of MacArthur's dismissal. The British had a brigade in Korea at the time and the British officers in the Mess were very anti-MacArthur and celebrating his demise. I think MacArthur was a magnificent general, but he became more and more insulated from the world by his staff, many of whom had been with him since the Bataan days. I think that was part of the problem. He was not a young man at the time of Korea. I think, perhaps, he got too dependent on his staff officers and certain things happened which were not in MacArthur's best interest... Even after MacArthur was relieved by the President of the United States he had a tickertape parade in New York City and he made two great speeches, one to Congress and one about Duty, Honor, Country. The Duty, Honor, Country speech is one of the greatest ever made by a military man, and he made it without a note at the age of seventy-five. I believe Douglas MacArthur in 1945 could have come home and run for president and won going away. He was worshiped at the end of the war."
"Prior to Ap Bac, the Kennedy administration had succeeded in preventing the American public from being more than vaguely conscious that the country was involved in a war in a place called Vietnam."
"No officer I ever met, either above or below me in rank, could touch General Creighton W. Abrams. He was the best soldier I have ever known, including all the members of my family."
"The connecting file between the old and the new- George came to West Point in 1942 steeped in Army tradition. Like his father, who commands the Third Army, George commands any situation that comes his way, be it femmes, boodle or a falling out dumbjohn. He has held up his end of the family rank, first becoming sink sergeant and then a high ranking corporal. His motto has always been: The Army first, my fellow man second, me third. The Army retains a soldier, an athlete, a gentleman."
"For as long as I can remember, I knew that my father labored under the weight of his name: When you're the only son of a legendary yet controversial war hero and you choose to dive into his profession, what do you do next? The pressure was enough to drag anyone under: At my father's graduation from West Point, a guy famously walked up to him and said, "Well, George, you'll never be the man your father was, but congratulations.""
"My grandfather notoriously slapped two shell-shocked soldiers. A decade later, my father, in turn, savagely beat a young lieutenant who'd deserted his foxhole during a battle. Both men were products of their time, when PTSD wasn't even in the vocabulary."
"I always had the feeling he thought he let Daddy down by not becoming Jesus Christ II."
"Maj. Gen. George S. Patton III is the son and namesake of "Old Blood and Guts" of World War II fame. The younger Patton fought in both Korea and Vietnam, where he served three tours between 1962 and 1969. His last assignment there was as commander of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, which his father had led during its horse cavalry days. Retired from the service, Patton raises produce, blueberries, and cattle on a piece of land he inherited from his family in Hamilton, Massachusetts."
"I hereby consent to the acceptance of my son of his conditional appointment as a cadet in the military service, and he has my full permission to sign articles binding himself to serve the United States eight years, unless sooner discharged. Signed: G.S. Patton, Jr., Major General."
"George need not worry about missing a war. The next one is on the way."
"He had an instinct for doing the right thing at the right time in combat and many American soldiers are alive today because George Patton was their boss."
"Patton looked like his father and had similar mannerisms. Their speech was somewhat alike as well. It was pretty evident that young Patton was the son of the old man. However, the impressive thing about George is that he didn't concern himself with his last name. He went out and made a career, earning everything on his own... He did a very good job in command of the 11th ACR and handled himself professionally. It's quite a burden the son of a senior officer has to carry and I must say, to his credit, he did it well. Because down through history, when you look at the sons of famous people, they were not all winners."
"Patton asked him to go aboard a chopper equipped with a loudspeaker and order his men to surrender. The prisoner quickly refused, and Patton said to him, "If you don't go up in the chopper with me and ask them to surrender you have personally signed their death warrants, because I will be forced to obliterate this position." The NVA captain again declined, and Patton's frustration was evident. He glowered at the man, and said, "Goddamn it, who is winning this war?" "You are," as the reply. "Then in that case," Patton shouted, "why don't we save the lives of your soldiers and let us take them out and feed them and medicate them?" "Sir," he said, "you didn't ask who would win this war." "Well, who is going to win this war?" Patton snorted. "We will," the prisoner said forcefully, "because you will tire of it before we do.""
"George, the Army needs someone like you right now. You can't quit."
"I'd follow that man to hell and fight the devil himself 'cause I'm damn sure he'd lead me back."
"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Silver Star to Colonel (Armor) George Smith Patton (ASN: 0-28685), United States Army, for gallantry in action while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force on 9 August 1968 while serving as Commanding Officer, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Republic of Vietnam. On this date, elements of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, assisted by the 1st Battalion, 8th Army of the Republic of Vietnam Regiment, were conducting a cordon and search operation in the village of Chanh Luu, Binh Duong Province. During the operation, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam troops performing the actual search encountered stubborn resistance by communist forces fighting from tunnels hidden under the village and progress was halted by hostile grenade attacks which inflicted a number of casualties upon the troops. At this time Colonel Patton intervened in the firefight, encouraging the Army of the Republic of Vietnam troops to continue their assault of the tunnel complex. Unable to find a fragmentations grenade, Colonel Patton obtained a smoke grenade from one of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam soldiers. Directing his Sergeant Major and S-2 to direct covering fire, Colonel Patton, totally disregarding his own personal safety, advanced upon the enemy position. As hostile forces attempted to launch another grenade attack from the tunnel entrance, Colonel Patton fully exposed himself to the full intensity of their fire, and threw the smoke grenade into the tunnel opening forcing the enemy force to break contact and enabling the friendly unit to secure the hostile position. Colonel Patton's courage and exceptional planning resulted in 16 communists killed and the capture of 99 Viet Cong suspects, one RPG-2 Rocket Launcher, 21 RPG-2 rocket rounds and numerous small arms and small arms ammunition. Colonel Patton's outstanding leadership abilities, unwavering devotion to duty and profound personal bravery while under hostile fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army."
"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Colonel (Armor) George Smith Patton (ASN: 0-28685), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Headquarters, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Colonel Patton distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 5 September 1968 during a battle with a North Vietnamese Army force near Chanh Luu. From his command and control helicopter Colonel Patton saw a force of fifty-eight hostile soldiers attempting to escape his troops' encirclement. He immediately directed his door gunners to engage the communists and ordered his pilot to land in the vicinity of the enemy element. As the aircraft touched down it was damaged by an intense barrage of hostile fire from a deep, well concealed ravine. Aided by helicopter gunships, Colonel Patton led an assault against the North Vietnamese positions which forced the enemy to withdraw. A three-man rocket propelled grenade team remained behind to cover their retreat. When a platoon of infantry arrived to assist him, Colonel Patton led a squad into the ravine and directed an assault on the hostile position. During the fierce engagement Colonel Patton captured one of the aggressors, and the other two were killed as they tried to flee the ravine. Colonel Patton's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army."
"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Distinguished Service Cross to Colonel (Armor) George Smith Patton (ASN: 0-28685), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Headquarters, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Colonel Patton distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 24 September 1968 while directing a sweep around the village of Chanh Luu conducted jointly by the 36th Army of the Republic of Vietnam Rangers and Troop B of his 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Intense automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade fire from a house destroyed an assault vehicle and wounded several men, including the Rangers' commanding officer. Seeing that the Ranger unit was beginning to lose momentum, Colonel Patton had his command and control helicopter land in the middle of the embattled area and left the ship to rally the Vietnamese soldiers. Exposing himself to the hostile fire raking the area, he maneuvered them back to a supporting position near the enemy stronghold and directed his troops to more defensible terrain, while personally engaging the communists with his grenade launcher. He then led a charge which destroyed the house and revealed a heavily fortified bunker that had been concealed by the building. Ordering his men to lay down a base of fire, Colonel Patton crawled through the open terrain until he was at the fortification's entrance and hurled a grenade inside. When the enemy in the extensive and well protected bunker continued to resist, he assaulted a second time with two other men and placed TNT in the emplacement, annihilating the position. Colonel Patton's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army."
"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 2, 1926, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Colonel (Armor) George Smith Patton (ASN: 0-28685), United States Army, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight while serving with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Republic of Vietnam during the period from 17 March 1969 to 27 March 1969."