"He was tough. War is tough. Leaders have to be tough. He drove his army hard, yes, and he made many enemies among colleagues and subordinates, but he also produced results. He was indeed arrogant, but sometimes a good leader has to be larger than life. … But the fact is: again typically, Patton's admirers are no more specific in their praise than are his disparagers in their criticism."

Alan Axelrod Literature See all quotes by Alan Axelrod →

React to this quote

More by Alan Axelrod

“Washington was the right man at the right time – sometimes he was the first man, but sometimes he simply knew when to ride the crest of a wave or the leading edge of a trend.”

“People might say these books are frivolous, but I don't see them that way. I think they're very impressively designed – just in an unconventional format.”

“In the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was very common for boys and young men to read about the lives of the so-called great men for the purpose of extracting lessons in how to be great themselves in whatever field they chose. I see these books as reviving that tradition by distilling ideas to their essence and putting them in a readily digestible form.”

Resonant Thoughts

"It is related that on one occasion the Prophet said': "Beat not your wives." Then Umar came to the Prophet and said, "Our wives have got. the upper hand of the their husbands from hearing this." Then …"

— Thomas Hughes (priest)

Law1822–1896

#education

"Belief has its structures, and its symbols change. Its tradition changes. All the relationships within these forms are inter-dependent. We look at the symbols, we hope to read them, we hope for sharin…"

— Muriel Rukeyser

Literature1913–1980

#hope

"I quite fixedly believe the Wardens of Earth sometimes unbar strange windows, that face on other worlds than ours. And some of us, I think, once in a while get a peep through these windows. But we are…"

— James Branch Cabell

Literature1879–1958

#life

"The Dutch Company, actuated solely by the spirit of gain, and viewing their subjects, with less regard or consideration than a West India planter formerly viewed a gang upon his estate, because the la…"

— Stamford Raffles

Politics1781–1826

#Human Nature