Quotes about generals

I made all my generals out of mud.

— Napoleon Bonaparte

I am convinced that the best service a retired general can perform is to turn in his tongue along with his suit, and to mothball his opinions.

— Omar Nelson Bradley

Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends.

— Dwight D. Eisenhower

In enterprise of martial kind, when there was any fighting, he led his regiment from behind -- he found it less exciting.

— W. S. Gilbert

The Creator has not thought proper to mark those in the forehead who are of stuff to make good generals. We are first, therefore, to seek them blindfold, and then let them learn the trade at the expense of great losses.

— Thomas Jefferson

I think with the Romans, that the general of today should be a soldier tomorrow if necessary.

— Thomas Jefferson

Tell me what brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals.

— Abraham Lincoln

A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him.

— Douglas Macarthur

Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.

— Douglas Macarthur

The nearest the modern general or admiral comes to a small-arms encounter of any sort is at a duck hunt in the company of corporation executives at the retreat of Continental Motors, Inc.

— C. Wright Mills

To a surprising extent the war-lords in shining armor, the apostles of the martial virtues, tend not to die fighting when the time comes. History is full of ignominious getaways by the great and famous.

— George Orwell

Perfect soldier, perfect gentleman never gave offence to anyone not even the enemy.

— A. J. P. Taylor

The best generals I have known were... stupid or absent-minded men. Not only does a good army commander not need any special qualities, on the contrary he needs the absence of the highest and best human attributes -- love, poetry, tenderness, and philosophic inquiring doubt. He should be limited, firmly convinced that what he is doing is very important (otherwise he will not have sufficient patience), and only then will he be a brave leader. God forbid that he should be humane, should love, or pity, or think of what is just and unjust.

— Count Leo Tolstoy

Forget decorated generals, tell me about Private Ryan.

— Dejan Stojanovic