13 quotes
I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
If you put the letter "S" in front of Hitler, then you have my opinion of him.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
Remember that the enemy is just as frightened as you are, and probably more so. They are not supermen.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
We have the finest food, the finest equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world. Why, by God, I actually pity those poor sons-of-bitches we're going up against. By God, I do.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
There are four hundred neatly marked graves somewhere in Sicily. All because one man went to sleep on the job. But they are German graves, because we caught the bastard asleep before they did.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
My men don't surrender. I don't want to hear of any soldier under my command being captured unless he has been hit. Even if you are hit, you can still fight back.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
All of the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters, either. Every single man in this Army plays a vital role. Don't ever let up. Don't ever think that your job is unimportant. Every man has a job to do and he must do it. Every man is a vital link in the great chain.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
My men don't dig foxholes. I don't want them to. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. And don't give the enemy time to dig one either.
Speech to the Third Army (1944)
There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you won't have to cough, shift him to the other knee and say, "Well, your Granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana." No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, "Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-Goddamned-Bitch named Georgie Patton!
Speech to the Third Army (1944)