Inspiring Army Quotes: A Powerful Collection to Motivate and Lead

"I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion."

- Alexander the Great

"The soldier is the army. No army is better than its soldiers. The soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country."

- Gen. George S. Patton Jr.

"No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation."

- General Douglas MacArthur

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle."

- Norman Schwarzkopf

"The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission."

- John F. Kennedy

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

- Nathan Hale

"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself."

- Joseph Campbell

"There is nothing nobler than risking your life for your country."

- Nick Lampson

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

- Elmer Davis

"The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership."

- General Colin Powell

"I had a sort of a motto, “No details, no paper, and no regrets.” No details-don’t go about setting machine guns on different sides of bushes. That is done a damn sight better by a platoon commander. Then, no paper. You cannot entirely do without paper, but you can get rid of quite a lot of it. Do not have people coming to you with huge files, telling you all about it. Make the man explain it; and if he cannot explain it, get somebody else who can. When I say “no regrets”, that is important. You do the best you can. You may have gotten it wrong; you may have lost a battle. You may even have lost a good many of your men’s lives which hurts more, but do not have regrets. Do not sit in the corner and say, “Oh, If I had only gone to the left instead of the right,” or “If I had only fought in front of the river instead of behind it.” You have done the best you could-it hasn’t come off. All right! What’s the next problem? Get on to that. Do not sit in the corner weeping about what you might have done. No details, no paper, no regrets."

- Field Marshall Sir Bill Slim

"Leadership is that mixture of example, persuasion and compulsion which makes men do what you want them to do. If I were asked to define leadership, I should say it is the ‘Projection of Personality’. It is the most intensely personal thing in the world, because it is just plain you."

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim

"Unselfishness, as far as you are concerned means simply this – you will put first the honour and interests of your country and your regiment; next you will put the safety, well-being and comfort of your men; and last – and last all the time – you will put your own interest, your own safety, your own comfort."

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim

"The most important thing I learned is that soldiers watch what their leaders do. You can give them classes and lecture them forever, but it is your personal example they will follow."

- General Colin Powell

"If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do… the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."

- General George S. Patton Jr.

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

- President John Quincy Adams

"If you as a leader allow people to halfway do their jobs and don’t demand excellence as a prerequisite to keeping their job, you will create a culture of mediocrity. If you allow people to misbehave, underachieve, have a bad attitude, gossip, and generally avoid excellence, please don’t expect to attract and keep good talent. Please don’t expect to have an incredible culture."

- Dave Ramsey

"Be an example to your men, in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself and let your troops see that you don’t in your endurance of fatigue and privation. Always be tactful and well-mannered. Avoid excessive sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide."

- German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

"Always do everything you ask of those you command."

- General George S. Patton

"I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but by how high he bounces when he hits bottom."

- General George S. Patton

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

- George Orwell

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid."

- Col. David Hackworth

"It is better to have a lion at the head of an army of sheep, than a sheep at the head of an army of lions."

- Daniel Defoe

"I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep."

- Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

"He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks."

- Sun Tzu

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived."

- George S. Patton

"Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all."

- George Washington

"One doesn't become a soldier in a week - it takes training, study and discipline. There is no question that the finest Army in the world is found in the United States."

- Daniel Inouye

"I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it."

- John Thune

"The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude."

- Jeff Miller

"The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"…leaders under pressure must keep themselves absolutely clean morally. The relativism of the social sciences will never do. They must lead by example, must be able to implant high-mindedness to their followers, and must have earned their followers’ respect by demonstrating integrity."

- Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale

"People think that the follower serves the leader. But that isn’t true. The leader and the follower both serve the mission."

- Ira Chaleff

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing."

- Albert Schweitzer

"A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit."

- Arnold H Glasgow

"People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision."

- John Maxwell

"Leaders are made more often than they are born. You all have leadership in you. Develop it by thought training and by practice."

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim

"Leadership must be based on goodwill. Goodwill does not mean posturing and, least of all, pandering to the mob. It means obvious and wholehearted commitment to helping followers. We are tired of leaders we fear… What we need for leaders are men of heart who are so helpful that they, in effect, do away with the need of their jobs. But leaders like that are never out of a job, never out of followers."

- Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale

"A [unit’s] quality, its discipline, its training will depend on your leadership. Whatever deficiencies there are must be charged to your failure and incapacity."

- General George C. Marshall

"The good military leader will dominate the events which surround him; once he lets events get the better of him he will lose the confidence of his men, and when that happens he ceases to be of value as a leader."

- Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein

"We, the officers and NCOs, owe it to the men that we command and to our country that we make ourselves fit to lead the best soldiers in the world, that in peace the training we give them is practical, alive and purposeful, and that in war our leadership is wise, resolute and unselfish."

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers."

- Ralph Nader

"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."

- Jack Welch

"War is much too brutal a business to have room for brutal leading; in the end, its only effect can be to corrode the character of men and when character is lost, all is lost. The bully and the sadist serve only to further encumber an army; their subordinates must waste precious time clearing away the wreckage they make."

- Brigadier General S. L. A. Marshall

"Ultimately, battles, particularly those conducted under hazardous conditions and in the face of a numerically superior enemy, turn on the fighting spirit of the soldier. High morale and determination to win can only be developed by hard, tough, purposeful training and with the aid of good leadership …This is our main responsibility in peace time."

- Field Marshal Dwin Bramall

"I agree with Emerson when he said, “Trust men and they will be true to you. Treat them greatly and they will show themselves to be great.” Its jolly easy to say that and its jolly easy to think that all you’ve got to do is give an order and, we go out and they get on with it. Well, it’s not so, because to do that, you’ve got to train with them, you’ve got to get to know one another, you’ve got to give of your best, and set the standards. Then you can trust them and they will trust you. You treat men greatly by briefing them properly or working with them or bringing them along in the right lines. Now that, I firmly believe, should be the approach of soldiers and leaders throughout all armies and all services."

- WO1 J C Lord, RSM 3 PARA and AcSM RMAS

"Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others’ success, and then standing back and letting them shine."

- Chris Hadfield

"The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are, to where they have not been."

- Henry Kissinger

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves."

- Lao Tzu

"The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow."

- Seth Godin

"Leadership is of the spirit, compounded of personality and vision: its practice is an art. Management is of the mind, more a matter of accurate calculation, of statistics, of methods, timetables and routine; its practice is a science. Managers are necessary; leaders are essential."

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim

"We never lost sight of the reality that people, particularly gifted commanders, are what make units succeed. The way I like to put it, leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible."

- General Colin Powell

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

- German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

"Every great leader I have known has been a great teacher, able to give those around him a sense of perspective and to set the moral, social and motivational climate among his followers."

- Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale

"In the British Army there are no good units and no bad units – only good and bad officers and NCOs. They make or break the unit."

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim

"Successful leadership in battle, although complex and intangible, always seemed to me to depend on two factors. Firstly, soldiers must have confidence in their leaders’ professional ability and, secondly, they must trust them as men. It helps, too, if a leader has the reputation of being lucky."

- Sydney Jary MC

"The quality of leadership needs, above all, spirit, intelligence and sympathy. Spirit is needed to fire men to self-sacrificing achievements; intelligence, because men will only respect and follow a leader whom they feel knows his profession thoroughly; sympathy, to understand the mentality of each individual in order to draw out the best that is in him. Given these qualities, men will conquer fear to follow a leader."

- Basil Liddell Hart

"A successful leader of men must have character, ability and be prepared to take unlimited responsibility. Responsibility can only be learned by taking responsibility; you cannot learn the piano without playing on one. Leadership is the practical application of character. It implies the ability to command and to make obedience proud and free."

- Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen

"A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind."

- Nelson Mandela

"Leadership in war is an art, a free creative activity based on a foundation of knowledge. The greatest demands are made on the personality."

- Generals Werner von Fritsch and Ludwig Beck

"The standard you walk past is the standard you accept."

- David Hurley

"Many of the military forms which look so unnecessary or even absurd, the worship of regimental totems, the eccentricities of dress and custom, the cultivation of a separate identity for the group – these have been developed and are still dedicated precisely to the creation and maintenance of that coherence on which the effective performance of a group under pressure depends. The leader must realise this."

- General Sir John Hackett

"Strange as it sounds, great leaders gain authority by giving it away."

- Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale

"If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"…we British instinctively avoid displays of keenness. The enthusiast, particularly if he is innovative, is an embarrassment. Thus the battlefield became our teacher and, inevitably, it exacted a grim price in blood and time."

- Sydney Jary MC

"We have all seen the officer who, by working very hard, produces an excellent performance but on promotion fails to maintain his promise. He reached that rank because he was clever enough not to need to delegate. He failed because he did not have the sense or character to know that he should."

- Major General Rupert Smith

"You don’t lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case."

- Ken Kesey

"It is absolutely necessary…for me to have persons that can think for me, as well as execute orders."

- George Washington

"Imagine a situation where some of those who you anticipate will perform well go to pieces. On the ground you discover your maps are not accurate. Your supporting armour is delayed for reasons unknown to you. The opposition’s fire power is far greater than you anticipated. General chaos exists. If your school and university record has been one of unparalleled success, giving you no experience of failure, you will find yourself at a disadvantage. ‘If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same’. Never have Rudyard Kipling’s words been more appropriate."

- Sydney Jary MC

"When you become a leader you give up the right to think about yourself."

- Gerald Brooks

"We are defined by what we do repeatedly, therefore excellence is a habit, not an act."

- Aristotle

"I can't expect loyalty from the army if I do not give it."

- George C. Marshall

"Those who served, and those who continue to serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard took an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and we can never forget the importance of their commitment to our Nation."

- Robin Hayes

"Opportunity is missed by most because is it dressed in overalls and looks like work."

- Thomas Edison

"We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training."

- Archilochus

"It can be done!"

- General Colin Powell

"Courage is the power to let go of the familiar."

- Raymond Lindquist

"If there is no Ukrainian strong army, there will be no Ukraine, and that will be the case when everyone will understand... it's not the war in Ukraine, it's the war in Europe. We are defending our country, our land. We are not attacking anyone, because that is immoral."

- Volodymyr Zelensky

"Who you are speaks so loudly, I cannot hear what you are saying."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The Nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools."

- Charles George Gordon

"An army marches on its stomach."

- Napoleon Bonaparte

"The conventional army loses if it does not win. The guerrilla wins if he does not lose."

- Henry Kissinger

"If my soldiers were to begin to think, not one of them would remain in the army."

- Frederick the Great

"One can resist the invasion of an army but one cannot resist the invasion of ideas."

- Victor Hugo

"Leaders must be seen to be up front, up to date, up to their job and up early in the morning."

- Marcus Sieff

"In the Confederate Army, an officer was judged by stark courage alone, and this made it possible for the Confederacy to live four years."

- Chesty Puller

"It is well that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it."

- General Robert E. Lee

"I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work."

- Thomas Edison

"An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot."

- Thomas Paine

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There are three kinds of people: Those who are immovable, those who are moveable, and those who move them."

- Li Hung

"What you permit, you promote."

- Professor Aidan Halligan

"I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism."

- Bob Riley

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

"America without her soldiers would be like God without His angels."

- Claudia Pemberton

"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."

- Adlai E. Stevenson II

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."

- Mark Twain

"How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!"

- Maya Angelou

"The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men."

- Minot J. Savage

"Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war."

- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"True patriotism isn't cheap. It's about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going."

- Robert Reich

"Heroism doesn't always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history."

- Mary Roach

"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected."

- Steve Jobs

"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle."

- James Keller

"Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army."

- Edward Everett

"He belonged to that army known as invincible in peace, invisible in war."

- William Tecumseh Sherman

"It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts."

- Robert H. Schuller

"Skill and confidence are an unconquered army."

- George Herbert

"Two armies that fight each other is like one large army that commits suicide."

- Henri Barbusse

"There is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all."

- Peter Drucker

"In the Soviet army it takes more courage to retreat than advance."

- Joseph Stalin

"Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first."

- Charles de Gaulle

"The Army has carried the American ideal to its logical conclusion. Not only do they prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, creed and color, but also on ability."

- Tom Lehrer

"No man is a leader until he is ratified in the minds and hearts of his men."

"The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet."

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power."

"A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. In the end, leaders are much like eagles… they don’t flock, you find them one at a time."

"A lack of planning on your part does not constitute a crisis on mine…unless of course I failed to lead you."