This is as true in everyday life as it is in battle: we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
(Attributed)
Quotations by:
Bradley, Omar
Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
(Attributed)
The second best decision in time is infinitely better than the perfect decision too late.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
(Attributed)
Wars can be prevented just as surely as they can be provoked, and we who fail to prevent them must share the guilt for the dead.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
(Attributed)
We have too many men of science, too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom, and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. The world has achieved briliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical midgets. We know more about war than we know of peace, more about killing than we know of living.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
Armistice Day address, Boston (11 Nov 1948)
We are dealing with veterans, not procedures — with their problems, not ours.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
Comment, while Administrator of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (1946)
I am convinced that the best service a retired general can perform is to turn in his tongue along with his suit and to mothball his opinions.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
Interview (17 May 1959)
Dependability, integrity, the characteristic of never knowingly doing anything wrong, that you would never cheat anyone, that you would give everybody a fair deal. Character is a sort of an all-inclusive thing. If a man has character, everyone has confidence in him. Soldiers must have confidence in their leader.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
Personal interview with Edgar Puryear (15 Feb 1963)
Quoted in Edgar Puryear, 19 Stars : A Study in Military Character and Leadership (1981).
To live bravely by convictions from which the free peoples of the world can take heart, the American people must put their faith in long-range policies — political, economic, and military — programs that will not be heated and cooled with the brightening and waning of tensions. The United States has matured to world leadership; it is time we steered by the stars, not by the lights of each passing ship.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
Speech, Memorial Day, Longmeadow, Mass. (31 May 1948)
I am under no illusion that our present strategy of using means short of total war to achieve our ends and oppose communism is a guarantee that a world war will not be thrust upon us. But a policy of patience and determination without provoking a world war, while we improve our military power, is one which we believe we must continue to follow. … Under present circumstances, we have recommended against enlarging the war from Korea to also include Red China. The course of action often described as a limited war with Red China would increase the risk we are taking by engaging too much of our power in an area that is not the critical strategic prize. Red China is not the powerful nation seeking to dominate the world. Frankly, in the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this strategy would involve us in the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy.
Omar Bradley (1893-1981) American general
Testimony, Senate Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Relations (15 May 1951)