Quote of the Day

"When I think of the greatness of my job and realize that I am what I am, I am amazed, but on reflection, who is as good as I am?  I know of no one."

   -- Major General George S. Patton in a note to his diary, fall 1942, just before the invasion of North Africa, codename TORCH. As quoted in An Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson.

There's another great quote a page later that Patton sent to his subordinate generals just before departure:

"If you don't succeed, I don't want to see you alive.  I see no point in surviving defeat, and I am sure that if all of you enter into battle with equal resolution, we shall conquer, and live long, and gain more glory."

The man was like a Viking God, and it's an indictment of our society that we would almost certainly have no use for his particular brand of leadership in today's world.