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date: 03 December 2023

George S. Patton 1885–1945
American general 

  1. Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.
    in Cavalry Journal September 1933
  2. Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash.
    letter to his son, 6 June 1944 [D day]; Brian Sobel The Fighting Pattons ch. 16
  3. This is a first-class case of man's monument to stupidity!
    on encountering the Maginot line, 1944
    Paul D. Harkins When the Third Cracked Europe: the story of Patton's incredible army (1969), frequently quoted in the form ‘Fixed fortifications are monuments to the stupidity of man’ as in the 1970 film Patton
  4. A good plan violently executed Now is better than a perfect plan next week.
    War As I Knew It (1947)