“Optimism is denial, so face the facts and move on”

The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point?but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that old soldiers never die; they just fade away.

By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder – infinitely prouder – to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys.

Expect only 5% of an intelligence report to be accurate.The trick of a good commander is to isolate the 5%.

By profession I am a soldier and take great pride in that fact, but I am prouder, infinitely prouder, to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentialities of death; the other embodies creation and life.

Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair; these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.

It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.

The untruthful soldier trifles with the lives of his countrymen and the honor and safety of his country.

The great question is, can war be outlawed from the world? If so, it would mark the greatest advance in civilization since the Sermon on the Mount.

Men will not fight and die without knowing what they are fighting and dying for.

Nine times of ten an army has been destroyed because its supply lines have been severed

War’s very object is victory, not prolonged indecision. In war there is no substitute for victory.

If I had one more division like this First Marine Division I could win this war.

A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.

Old soldiers never die, they just lose their grip on reality after traumatic brain injuries.

We are bound no longer by the straitjacket of the past and nowhere is the change greater than in our profession of arms. What, you may well ask, will be the end of all of this? I would not know! But I would hope that our beloved country will drink deep from the chalice of courage.

Defensive strategy never has produced ultimate victory.

What state do you live in? Denial.

I don’t spend a huge amount of time fixated on climate denial because I don’t think that their objections, though sometimes couched in science, are based in science. I think they’re based in ideology. And I don’t think there’s anything you can do.

I’ll never forget the day that I was told I would have to have a mastectomy. My reaction to the words was total denial.

The only the way that you can live and function without seeing the facts in front of you is to put yourself in a constant state of denial.

Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it.

Science adjusts its views based on what’s observed.

Faith is the denial of observation so that belief can be preserved.

I am one of the most irresponsible beings that ever lived. Irresponsibility is part of my invisibility; any way you face it, it is a denial. But to whom can I be responsible, and why should I be, when you refuse to see me?