“On the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that on other days, on other fields will bear the fruits of victory.”

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.

It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means, where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace. Like blackmail, it lays the basis for new and successively greater demands until, as in blackmail, violence becomes the only other alternative.

The chickens are coming home to roost, and you happen to have just moved into the chicken house.

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.

Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.

Even when opportunity knocks, a man still has to get up off his seat and open the door.

For those to whom much is given, much is required. It is not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up. There is no substitute for victory.

I realize that advice is worth what it costs–that is, nothing.

From the Far East I send you one single thought, one sole idea – written in red on every beachhead from Australia to Tokyo – “There is no substitute for victory!”

I see that the flagpole still stands. Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak, and let no enemy ever haul them down.

I am in general a very pessimistic person with an optimistic, day to day take on things. The bare facts of life are utterly terrifying. And yet, one can laugh. Indeed, one has to laugh precisely because of the darkness: the nervous laughter of the trenches.

I’m always on a red carpet . . . the other day I thought, this ain’t bad. You can meet people on it.

When I was a younger actor, I would try to keep it serious all day. But I have found, later on, that the lighter I am about things when I’m going to do a big scene that’s dramatic and takes a lot out of you, the better off I am when I come to it.

Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits, lights of day, smells, textures of carpet.

The first matter that the slave will be brought to account for on the Day of Judgment is the prayer.

Anyone who’s had a shower and hasn’t ingested illegal narcotics within a couple of days stands out on a bench in the courthouse.

Don’t I yearn for the days when a draw across the throat made f**king resolution.

As a wise man once said, “April Fools Day is for amateurs. You NEVER need an excuse to mess with people’s heads.”