Douglas MacArthur Military Quotations

While I was not consulted prior to the President's decision to intervene in support of the Republic of Korea, that decision from a military standpoint, proved a sound one, as we hurled back the invader and decimated his forces. Our victory was complete, and our objectives within reach, when Red China intervened with numerically superior ground forces.

Men since the beginning of time have sought peace...military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn have failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war not blots out this alternative.

The President of the United States ordered me to break through the Japanese lines and proceed from Corregidor to Australia for the purpose, as I understand it, of organizing the American offensive against Japan, a primary objective of which is the relief of the Philippines. I came through and I shall return.

Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.

It is my earnest hope - indeed the hope of all mankind - that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past, a world found upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice.

One cannot wage war under present conditions without the support of public opinion, which is tremendously molded by the press and other forms of propaganda.

A better world shall emerge based on faith and understanding.

In no other profession are the penalties for employing untrained personnel so appalling or so irrevocable as in the military.

The nations of the world will have to unite for the next war will be an interplanetary war. The nations of Earth must some day make a common front against attack by people from other planets.

The Pacific no longer represents menacing avenues of approach for a prospective invader. It assumes, instead, the friendly aspect of a peaceful lake. Our line of defense is a natural one and can be maintained with a minimum of military effort and expense.

The scale and grandeur of the Russian effort mark it as the greatest military achievement in all history.

In many situations that seemed desperate, the artillery has been a most vital factor.

I have known war as few men now living know it. It's very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes.

To dilute the will to win is to destroy the purpose of the game. There is no substitute for victory.

I see that the flagpole still stands. Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak, and let no enemy ever haul them down.

Americans never quit.

Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.

I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world!

We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction.

You are remembered for the rules you break.

Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.

The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

I am concerned for the security of our great Nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within.

And like the old soldier in that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the sight to see that duty.