Combat Quotes - Page 12

• To the aircraft I aim, not the man.

  Francesco Baracca

  Men, Aviation, He Man

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• You don't think much of the individual, because you don't think you've hit him and you hope that he will bail out or something; it's the aeroplane you've hit . . . normally it was more of a game if you like, you were outwitting and shooting down another aircraft, you were simply hitting metal.

  Peter Malam Brothers

  Thinking, Games, Bail

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• Of all my accomplishments I may have achieved during the war, I am proudest of the fact that I never lost a wingman.

  Erich Hartmann

  War, Accomplishment, May

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• Often we combat our evil thoughts most effectively if we absolutely refuse to allow them to be expressed in words.

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

  Evil, Refuse, Ifs

  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Samuel Wells (2015). “Life Together”, p.70, SCM Press

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• Life is not an on and off switch. You don't have to have a military that is either in hard combat or is in the barracks.

  James G. Stavridis

  Motivation, Military, Inspiration

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• During their college years the oarsmen put in terrbily long hours, often showing up at the boathouse at 6:00am for preclass practices. Both physically and psychologically, they were separated from their classmates. Events that seemed earth-shattering to them-- for example, who was demoted from the varsity to the junior varsity -- went almost unnoticed by the rest of the students. In many ways they were like combat veterans coming back from a small, bitter and distant war, able to talk only to other veterans.

  David Halberstam

  War, College, Years

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• The general's staff is a handpicked collection of killers, spies, geniuses, patriots, political operators and outright maniacs. There's a former head of British Special Forces, two Navy Seals, an Afghan Special Forces commando, a lawyer, two fighter pilots and at least two dozen combat veterans and counterinsurgency experts. They jokingly refer to themselves as Team America, taking the name from the South Park-esque sendup of military cluelessness, and they pride themselves on their can-do attitude and their disdain for authority.

  Michael Hastings

  Attitude, Team, Military

  "The Runaway General: The Profile That Brought Down McChrystal" by Michael Hastings, www.rollingstone.com. June 22, 2010.

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• I hurt for my Marines, goodhearted American guys who'd bear these burdens for the rest of their lives. And I mourned for myself. Not in self-pity, but for the kid who'd come to Iraq. He was gone. I did all this in the dark, away from the platoon, because combat command is the loneliest job in the world.

  Nathaniel Fick

  Hurt, Jobs, Kids

  Nathaniel Fick (2006). “One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer”, p.243, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• So it was that the war in the air began. Men rode upon the whirlwind that night and slew and fell like archangels. The sky rained heroes upon the astonished earth. Surely the last fights of mankind were the best. What was the heavy pounding of your Homeric swordsmen, what was the creaking charge of chariots, besides this swift rush, this crash, this giddy triumph, this headlong sweep to death?

  H. G. Wells

  War, Hero, Fighting

  H. G. Wells (2015). “The World Set Free: H. G. Wells Collections”, p.62, 谷月社

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• Watching the Dallas Cowboys perform, it is not difficult to believe that coach Tom Landry flew fourengines bombers during World War II. He was in B17 Flying Fortresses out of England, they say. His cautious, conservative approach to every situation and the complexity of the plays he sends in do seem to reflect the philosophy of a pilot trained to doggedly press on according to plans laid down before takeoff. I sometimes wonder how the Cowboys would have fared all this years had Tom flown fighters in combat situations which dictated continuously changing tactics.

  Len Morgan

  Philosophy, War, Believe

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• The aggressive spirit, the offensive, is the chief thing everywhere in war, and the air is no exception.

  Manfred von Richthofen

  War, Air, Spirit

  Manfred Von Richthofen (2009). “The Red Baron”, p.107, Pen and Sword

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• If I were, to pick out the most valuable personal traits of a fighter pilot, aggressiveness would rate high on the list. Time and again, I have seen aggressive action, even from a disadvantageous position, completely rout a powerful Nip formation.

  Charles H. MacDonald

  Powerful, Pilots, Lists

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• There are pilots and there are pilots; with the good ones, it is inborn. You can't teach it. If you are a fighter pilot, you have to be willing to take risks.

  Robin Olds

  Risk, Pilots, Aviation

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• As in no other form of lute or combat, the conditions are such; the winner takes nothing, neither his ease, nor his pleasure, nor any notion of glory, nor if he wins far enough, will he find anything within himself.

  Ernest Hemingway

  Wisdom, Winning, Ease

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• I have met with political leaders, legislators, and diplomats, seeking the next steps to press in reducing and eliminating the nuclear threat in this century. I have participated in public coalitions developing programmes for action to combat the global rash of small arms. All are trying and making a difference.

  Michael Douglas

  Nuclear Disarmament, Differences, Leader

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• An untrained or uneducated Marine ... deployed to the combat zone is a bigger threat to mission accomplishment ... than the enemy.

  James Mattis

  Military, Marine, Accomplishment

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• Vanity should never tempt a player to engage in a combat at the risk of loss of health. It is bad enough to lose without the additional annoyance of paying doctors' bills.

  Emanuel Lasker

  Loss, Player, Vanity

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• It's frightening and exhilarating. It's like combat. Look at the metaphors: You kill when it works; you die when it doesn't.

  Robin Williams

  Looks, Comedy, Metaphor

  "RD Interview: Robin Williams, in His Own Words". Interview with Andy Simmons, www.rd.com. 2006.

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• Whenever armed forces . . . are used, the idea of combat must be present. . . . The end for which a soldier is recruited, clothed, armed, and trained, the whole object of his sleeping, eating, drinking, and marching is simply that he should fight at the right place and the right time.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  Drinking, Sleep, Fighting

  Carl von Clausewitz (2008). “On War”, p.95, Princeton University Press

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• Victory in combat is like sex with a prostitute. For a moment you forget everything in the sudden physical rush, but then you have to pay your money to the woman showing you the door. You see the dirt on the walls and your sorry image in the mirror.

  Karl Marlantes

  Sex, Wall, Sorry

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• By directing combat and war pieces, I could experience catharsis and successfully avoid committing a murder in real life. In this sense, I'm really grateful for that because I was conscious that I had such homicidal traits, to be honest.

  Yoshiyuki Tomino

  Real, War, Grateful

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• Let me tell you humans something. You are not fighters. You don’t have what it takes to actually change your current living situations. You can’t even organize a decent group to combat oppression. How can beings of such low stature hope to do anything? You are not heroes. Stop pretending you are helping by playing commando and get out of the way of someone who can.

  Charles Lee

  Hero, Groups, Way

  Charles Lee (2014). “The Way To Dawn: Dominion of Eden”, p.85, BookBaby

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• Whether we like it or not, gender differences matter in a combat situation.

  Pete Hegseth

  Differences, Matter, Gender

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• I believe that there is a silver lining in everything, and once you begin to see it, you'll need sunglasses to combat the glare.

  Sophia Amoruso

  Believe, Sunglasses, Needs

  Sophia Amoruso (2014). “#GIRLBOSS”, p.100, Penguin

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• We now know that climate action does not require economic sacrifice. This is fully in line with the World Bank Group's findings. It is up to all of us to make smart policy choices that will help combat climate change. For example, putting a price on carbon is a necessary step and could drive resources and investments to a cleaner economy.

  Sri Mulyani Indrawati

  Smart, Sacrifice, Climate Action

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