Maxims, Quotes, Rules and good ideas

[wulfir]

"Know thy enemy,
and know thy self"
- Sun Tzu


In war only the simple is possible. Simple plans are the surest route to the objective.
- InfR SkPlut ("Infantry manual Rifle Platoon", Swedish Army)




There is also a Finnish saying that goes something like this:

"In war games are far away"

[gila]

A couple from R.E.Lee.

At Fredericksburg when the Union sent wave after wave to attack the heights and were slaughtered.

It is good that war is so terrible,or we should grow too fond of it.

And on the night before Pickett's ill-fated attack on cemetery hill at Gettysburg.

The enemy is there, and i shall attack him there.

[gila]

What would be famous quotations without ole Blood and Guts?


GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON, JR. QUOTATIONS
"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."

“A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later.”

"America loves a winner, and will not tolerate a loser, this is why America has never, and will never, lose a war.”

“A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood.”

“By perseverance, study, and eternal desire, any man can become great.”

“Do everything you ask of those you command.”

“Do more than is required of you.”

“Fixed fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity.”

“Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.”

“I always believe in being prepared, even when I'm dressed in white tie and tails.”

“I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.”

“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.”

“If I do my full duty, the rest will take care of itself.”

“In case of doubt, attack.”

“It’s the unconquerable soul of man, not the nature of the weapon he uses, that insures victory.”

“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. ”

“Live for something rather than die for nothing.”

"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.”

“Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men.”

“Never let the enemy pick the battle site.”

“No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.”

“Say what you mean and mean what you say.”

“Success is how you bounce on the bottom.”

“The leader must be an actor."

“The soldier is the army.”

“There is only one type of discipline, perfect discipline.”

“War is simple, direct, and ruthless.”

“Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.”

“You’re never beaten until you admit it.”

“You shouldn't underestimate an enemy, but it is just as fatal to overestimate him.”

"Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tire, more hungry. Keep punching."

"In landing operations, retreat is impossible, to surrender is as ignoble as it is foolish. above all else remember that we as attackers have the initiative, we know exactly what we are going to do, while the enemy is ignorant of our intentions and can only parry our blows. We must retain this tremendous advantage by always attacking rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, and without rest."

"An Army is a team; lives, sleeps, eats, fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is a lot of crap."

"War is the supreme test of man in which he rises to heights never approached in any other activity."

"No sane man is unafraid in battle, but discipline produces in him a form of vicarious courage."

"A man must know his destiny. if he does not recognize it, then he is lost. By this I mean, once, twice, or at the very most, three times, fate will reach out and tap a man on the shoulder. if he has the imagination, he will turn around and fate will point out to him what fork in the road he should take, if he has the guts, he will take it."

"In war the only sure defense is offense, and the efficiency of the offense depends on the warlike souls of those conducting it."

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

"Wars might be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who leads that gains the victory."

". many, who should know better, think that wars can be decided by soulless machines, rather than by the blood and anguish of brave men."

"Tanks are new and special weapon-newer than, as special, and certainly as valuable as the airplane."

"An incessant change of means to attain unalterable ends is always going on; we must take care not to let these sundry means undue eminence in the perspective of our minds; for, since the beginning, there has been an unending cycle of them, and for each its advocates have claimed adoption as the sole solution of successful war."

"Untutored courage is useless in the face of educated bullets."

"The obvious thing for the cavalryman to do is to accept the fighting machine as a partner, and prepare to meet more fully the demands of future warfare."

"Many soldiers are led to faulty ideas of war by knowing too much about too little."

[troopie]

DeWet's 3 Laws
The Best is the Enemy of Good Enough.
No plan was ever improved by being made more complicated.
No situation was ever so bad, that headquarters couldn't make it worse.

"The Time has come to trust in God,.. and the Mauser" Gen. Ben Schoeman.

Good recce trumps bad recce. Bad recce trumps no recce.

"Resulation may supply the want of numbers, but numbers will never supply the want of resolution." Gustavus Adolphus.

"If men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail." U.S. Grant.

In combat, there is no such thing as too much firepower.

Ammunition is expensive, but men are more so.

I'd rather fill out AERs (Ammunition Expenditure Reports) than CRs (Casualty Reports).

Cowardice is a good thing. I like to encourage it in my enemies.

troopie

[Imp]

No situation was ever so bad, that headquarters couldn't make it worse

That would be me then in game terms

[Lt. Ketch]

Brand new quote from the univererse of Schlock Mercenary created by Howard Tayler.

Rule Three: An ordanace technician at a dead run outranks everybody.

To see this quote in context go to http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20091101.html