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General Curtis LeMay, commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command many years ago, used to insist that all his subordinates think positively. One day a colonel ran into General LeMay's office and shouted, "General, we have an insurmountable problem!"

— Curtis LeMay

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Notes from Wikiquote

The Colonel saluted. "Yes, sir. General, we have an insurmountable opportunity." | Jerry Pournelle, BYTE, May 1985

More quotes by Curtis LeMay

Every soldier thinks something of the moral aspects of what he is doing. But all war is immoral and if you let that bother you, you're not a good soldier.

Apply whatever force it is necessary to employ, to stop things quickly. The main thing is stop it. The quicker you stop it, the more lives you save.

Mission With LeMay: My Story (1965)

We’re at war with Japan. We were attacked by Japan. Do you want to kill Japanese, or would you rather have Americans killed?

Mission With LeMay: My Story (1965)

I'll tell you what war is about, you've got to kill people, and when you've killed enough they stop fighting.

She [America] escaped the ruin visited upon other nations because she was given time to prepare and because of distance. [In the next war] distance will be academic [and no preparation time, too].

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Curtis LeMay (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.