Erwin Rommel Quotes

If I had to take hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it.

Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, but brains saves both.

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

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

The German soldier has impressed the world, however the Italian Bersagliere soldier has impressed the German soldier.

For me, soldiers are all equal. Those black people wore your same uniform, fought on your side, and so you will be in the same jail.

One of the most important factors, not only in military matters but in life as a whole, is ... the ability to direct one's whole energies towards the fulfillment of a particular task.

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

The battle is fought and decided by the quartermasters, long before the shooting begins.

Training errors are recorded on paper. Tactical errors are etched in stone.

Always in a moment of extreme danger things can be done which had previously been thought impossible.

In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine.

I would rather be the hammer than the anvil

When there's no clear option, it's better to do nothing.

One must not judge everyone in the world by his qualities as a soldier: otherwise we should have no civilization.

War makes extremely heavy demands on the soldier's strength and nerves. For this reason, make heavy demands on your men in peacetime exercises.

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

But courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility.

One cannot permit unique opportunities to slip by for the sake of trifles.

Mortal danger is an effective antidote for fixed ideas.

Manstein is a man of illusions. ... He believes Hitler will listen to facts.

Which would your men rather be, tired, or dead?

Messages can't be intercepted if they aren't sent, can they?

The commander must establish personal and comradely contact with his men, but without giving away one inch of authority.

There are always times where the place of a commander isn't back with his Major State, but onward with his troops.

The battle is going very heavily against us. We're being crushed by the enemy weight. We are facing very difficult days, perhaps the most difficult that a man can undergo

It is often possible to decide the issue of a battle merely by making an unexpected shift of one's main weight.

I didn't die nor win.

The enemy must be annihilated before he reaches our main battlefield. We must stop him in the water, destroying all his equipment while it is still afloat!

Good soldiers, bad officers; however don't forget that without them we would not have any Civilization.

I would rather he had given me one more division

To every man of us, Tobruk was a symbol of British resistance and we were now going to finish with it for good.

It's better for one to die than for all of us to be killed in a shooting affray. Anyway, we've practically no ammunition.

Sweat saves blood.

One of the most important factors not only in military matters but in life as a whole is ... the ability to direct one's whole energies towards the fulfillment of a particular task.

Courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity or if it is insisted upon by a commander irresponsibility.