All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke

Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn't give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor ever lose a war.
George S. Patton

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
George S. Patton

"A wounded friend makes for the worst of enemies."
- I can't remember where I got this one from.

"Bullets and water are all that you need to take to the slaughter"
- a Para Reg exchange corporal who was at Lympstone

The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.

TE's quote immediately reminded me of Sgt. Major Dan Daly's quote during the Battle of Belleau Wood, somewhere along the lines of:

"Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?"

Some one once told me the definition of Hell: The last day you have on earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become.

Some people follow their dreams. Others hunt them 
down and beat them mercilessly into submission.
-Neil Kendall

“Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.”
– Fight Club

"The iron ore thinks itself senselessly tortured in the blast furnace: the tempered steel blade looks back and knows better."
-Unknown


The hell one is what keeps me going, i lose sleep over it.

Oh, and to a post that TE made on page 10 about the rise and fall of empires.

Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future.
-Marcus Aurelius

By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.

- Proverbs 24:3-4

Had this one stuck in my head all morning.

"Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state."

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

"A government that has the ability to give you everything you want, has the power to take everything you have."

All by Thomas Jefferson

Thank you Veterans who served and serve in times of war.

"We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail." -George W Bush. 2001


"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill. that we shall pay any price. bear any burden. meet any hardship. support any friend. oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of freedom." -John F Kennedy 1961


"We confide in our strength without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it."
-Thomas Jefferson 1793

This is actually from the last lord of the rings movie. The old king is about to die and he says this right before he passes.
" I go to my fathers, in whose mighty company I shall not feel ashamed. " Always liked that one.

“When you want to succeed as bad you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful” - Eric Thomas

Read this one from Steve Jobs that I thought was outstanding. Here's the Stanford commencement address the quote was taken from. It's a bit lengthy, but definitely worth the listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

"You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. And Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don’t settle.”
Steve Jobs

Excellent stuff guys, here are some of my favorites. Many of which I saw on here already.

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

-Edmund Burke

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends."
...
-John 15:13

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible."

-T.E. Lawerence

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord say, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' Then I said 'Here I am, send me!'"

-Isaiah 6:8

"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.'.. I agree with that second part."

-Lt. William Somerset (Seven)

"You're born. You suffer. You die. Fortunately, there's a loophole."

-Billy Graham

"The fear of death is followed by the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."

-Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)

"the moment you let them see you're angry, you've lost"

-uncle

"Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers; powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing, forces that would revolutionize his life if aroused and put into action."

- Orison Swett Marden

"America is all about speed... Hot, nasty, bad-***** speed"

- Eleanor Roosevelt (talladega nights misquote)

"We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart."

-H. L. Mencken

“A lot of people run to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts.”

-Steve Prefontaine

"You can't be common, the common man goes nowhere; you have to be uncommon."

Herb Brooks

It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great.

Jimmy Dugan, a league of their own

Another one that's stuck out in my head was from G.I. Jane (go ahead and laugh) by the Master Chief. I coulnd't remember exactly how it went, but found it on Google:

I have never seen a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A little bird will fall dead, frozen from a bough, without ever having felt sorry for itself.

D. H. Lawrence
English novelist (1885 - 1930)

I like that one Pic!
here are a few more I like that I think is a good help in realizing your mental strength in those tough times ie. Indoc!:

"Nothing happens to any man that he is not formed by nature to bear."

"Tough times never last but tough people do"

"Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes."

"Endurance is just not the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory."

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts" - William Shakespeare

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." - J.R.R. Tolkien

--------------------------------------------

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;" - T. S. Eliot

“Whether you believe that you can do a thing, or that you can't, you are usually right.” – Henry Ford

"Make haste slowly." - Augustus Caesar

"High achievements demand some other unusual qualification besides an unusual desire for high prizes." - Mary Anne Evans

"Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. " - William Shakespeare

"Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent." - Proverbs 17:28

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

- Thomas Jefferson (Sept 23, 1800)

" If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. "
George Orwell

"But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed, but not defeated" - Ernest Hemmingway

How much more defeated can you be than killing yourself? Hemmingway blew his brains out with a shotgun. Kurt Cobain was a copy cat; anybody smell some "Teen Spirit"? Don't quote that guy, either. You can quote some Dave Grohl, though.

If I'm going to wax poetic on lyrics, here is one that helped me get through CCT/PJ Selection back in 1993

"Tired screwing, tired going down, tired of myself, tired of this town" Tom Petty, "Last Dance with Mary Jane". A little reminder not to quit.

"It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it." - John Wooden

Better?

Robo,
Choose your quotes as you wish. I just was pointing out the irony of that quote coming from Hemingway.

Here is some Stoic Philosophy guys:

From the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius:

"Never act under compulsion, out of selfishness, without forethought, with misgivings.
Don’t gussy up your thoughts.
No surplus words or unnecessary actions.
Let the spirit in you represent a man, an adult, a citizen, a Roman, a ruler. Taking up his post like a soldier and patiently awaiting his recall from life. Needing no oath or witness. Cheerfulness. Without requiring other people’s help. Or serenity supplied by others. To stand up straight – not straightened."

Legendary coaches have a way of putting the complicated in a short simple statement.

There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.
Woody Hayes


Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.

It's not the load that breaks you down - its the way you carry it.
Lou Holtz


My signature is something I have carried with me all my life. I remember it in its original Spanish and offer the translation here. That statement and "This too will pass" have always guided me in adversity.

I thought it was quite insightful, I didnt know that he committed suicide. Makes me rethink that quote every time now.

"Fatigue makes cowards of us all." Vince Lambardy. I think I quoted this before. It is painted on a wall in the STTS gym. And it's VERY true. Train hard!

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but think you can't, it's almost a cinch, you won't.

Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins...is the one who thinks he can.

Anonymous

Your quote reminds me of one by Andrew Carnegie:

"He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave." - Andrew Carnegie

"He is a fisher of men, a last hope for all those who've been left behind. He is know as the Guardian. " - The Guardian (love this movie)

"There is a distinct difference between having an open mind and having a hole in your head from which your brain leaks out." - James Randi

"A person starts to live when he can live outside himself." - Einstein

"I feign no hypotheses." - Isaac Newton - Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica

"He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind." - Leonardo da Vinci


Yeah I originally went to school for mathematics so I have a thing for those in the field, I still study math and physics on my own time

"Commit to study acts of bravery and valor; emulate them. Do not cast your life away as a coward. One way or another death will come. Resolve now how you will face it." - Daidoji Yuzan

"The early morning has gold in its mouth." - Benjamin Franklin

"Early to bed and early to rise, Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." - Benjamin Franklin

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.

Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, Even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and Bow to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts Are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again In a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home."

~Tecumseh

Hooyah.

I just watched Act of Valor again last night where the SEAL writes the Tecumseh poem in a letter to his child. Lots of great, motivating quotes in that movie.

Here's something I just read from a comment on Blackfive.net. Made sense to me...

"Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

And another one that I quite like:
"If you're going to do something stupid, it'd better be funny."

Special Tactics sayings (as reported by former SecAF JG Roche of then Maj "RA" Armfield):

1. Heat sucks; cold hurts.
2. Cotton kills.
3. Two is one, one is none.

Probably posted already, but another ST related quote that deserves to be hit with "a tremendous whack":

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast...

I have this as a tattoo because it is one of my favorite quotes

"Better one day as a lion than a hundred as a sheep"
I have the tattoo in Italian.

To experience the myriad things is delusion;
For the myriad things to experience you is enlightenment.