312 Quotes by George S. Patton

I would rather have a good plan today than a perfect plan two weeks from now.

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.

Close the playand keep the store open nights.

Give me an army of West Point graduates and I'll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies, and I'll win the war.

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

Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of battle.

If a man has done his best, what else is there?

The publicity I have been getting, a good deal of which is untrue, and the rest of it ill considered, has done me more harm than good. The only way you get on in this profession is to have the reputation of doing what you are told as thoroughly as possible. So far I have been able to accomplish that, and I believe I have gotten quite a reputation from not kicking at peculiar assignments.

...It is a proud privilege to be a soldier – a good soldier … [with] discipline, self-respect, pride in his unit and his country, a high sense of duty and obligation to comrades and to his superiors, and a self confidence born of demonstrated ability.