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Quotes and phrases by Erwin Rommel

Quotes and phrases by Erwin Rommel

  • Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains saves both.

 

  • We shed sweat, but not blood.

 

  • The best form of welfare for the troops is first-rate training.

 

  • Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning.

 

  • If one person fights against another, then the winner will be one who can win in another round - an additional.

 

  • A risk is a chance you take - if you fail you can recover. A gamble is a chance taken - if it fails, recovery is impossible.

 

  • There is one unalterable difference between a soldier and a civilian: the civilian never does more than he is paid to do.

 

  • It is not necessary to judge everyone in the world by qualities, like a soldier: otherwise we must be uncivilized.

 

  • What difference does it make if you have two tanks to my one, when you spread it out and let me smash it in detail?

 

  • The best strategic plan is useless if it can not be executed tactically.

 

  • The best plan is the one made when the battle is over.

 

  • In the absence of orders, go find something and kill it.

 

  • The officers of a panzer division must learn to think and act independently within the framework of the general plan and not wait until they receive orders.

 

  • Men are basically smart or dumb and lazy or ambitious. The dumb and ambitious ones are dangerous and I get rid of them. The dumb and lazy ones I give mundane duties. The smart ambitious ones I put on my staff. The smart and lazy ones I make my commanders.

 

  • To be an example for your subordinates is a duty for a lifetime. Never feel sorry for yourself. And let the troops see that you are hardy with fatigue and deprivation. The tactics and breeding of the commander will teach subordinates to act like him. Do not talk excessively harshly and cruelly, because it indicates the shortcomings of a person who wants to hide them.

 

  • The next battle on earth will precede the battle in heaven. This will make it possible to understand which participant has an operational or tactical defect and will compromise after the battle.

 

  • Anyone who fights against the most modern weapons against enemy fighters who rule the air, if he will be like a savage against modern European troops, has a chance of success.

 

  • There is no fault on me. I was not involved in a crime. I only served my Fatherland all my conscious life.

  • The mortal danger is an effective antidote to obsessions.

 

  • The courage that goes against military expediency is stupidity, but if it comes from the commander, also irresponsibility.

  • It is always bad if political considerations can influence the planning of missions.

 

  • The German soldier was impressed with the world, and the Italian soldier-bersaler was impressed by the German soldier.

 

  • What do you like best - fatigue or death?

 

  • Our task is clear - every person in the desert should realize this simple thing. We are here to win. There can be no doubt about this. And we must win in this desert, otherwise the price is worthless to us.

 

  • If took someone else's life - be so kind to put your own on the table of war. Exactly! We all here took away the lives of others, so let us be ready to give ours. I took away the lives of my enemies, the enemies of Germany. One can not live by victories alone. I am proud that I am not afraid to die and give my life for Germany. I am proud of this, although, perhaps, this will be my last words.

 

  • You know, Schmidt, the years when we competed with the 8th British Army were the best years of our lives.

  • The Fuhrer knows exactly what is good for us.

 

  • Hitler trusted me, and that's enough for me.

 

  • Dead Hitler is more dangerous than alive.

 

  • This pathological liar has become completely insane, he is a true sadist in relation to all men since July 20, and we are not finished yet!

 

  • When I get well, I'll go to the Fuhrer and tell him: "Is it not enough? Look, you have the blood of millions of Germans! Your time is up, you must leave!"

 

  • North Africa with no doubt can be considered a theater where military actions were of the most modern character.

  • The French campaign was a pleasure trip in France.

 

  • Hitler made me a field marshal, but instead I would prefer another division.

 

  • Not every ballerina is capable of raising a real soldier, perhaps before that she must at least once get smell gunpowder.

  • Italian tanks could only be used as a not very convenient vehicle.

 

  • Even the bravest soldier can be killed by a bomb.

 

  • If today you hit an Englishman in the belly, tomorrow in the teeth, and the day after tomorrow - in the ass, he will not stand. The English command does not know how to adapt to the unexpected.

 

  • The German Wehrmacht is a sword in a new ideology.

 

  • The battle is on in logistics before it starts.

 

  • Officer, your soldiers fought with you, so they will live with you together in captivity.

 

  • The art of concentrating all forces at one point makes it necessary to break through defending flanks, and then penetrate deep into the enemy's rear, like lightning, before the enemy has time to react.

 

  • The soldiers are good, but the officers are bad. However, do not forget that without them we would never have the civilization.

 

  • After the war Germany still will need people.

 

  • Dead are lucky. For them it all ended.

 

  • By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

 

  • No plan survives contact with the enemy.

  • The best results are achieved by the commander, whose decisions are based on the data of the specific situation, and not on abstract reasoning and predetermined schemes.

  • Gentlemen, you fought like lions, even though donkeys led you.

  • He who talks a lot has nothing to breathe.

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