[Ads-l] Quote: No dumb bastard ever won a war by going out and dying for his country. George Patton

[Dan Goncharoff]

But it all goes back to Aristodemos in Herodotus 9.71:

According to my judgment, the bravest man by far was Aristodemus, who had
been reviled and dishonored for being the only man of the three hundred
that came alive from Thermopylae; [Note] next after him in valor were
Posidonius, Philocyon, and Amompharetus.

9.71.3 Nevertheless, when there was a general discussion about who had
borne himself most bravely, those Spartans who were there judged that
Aristodemus, who plainly wished to die because of the reproach hanging over
him and so rushed out and left the battle column behind, had achieved great
deeds, but that Posidonius, who had no wish to die, proved himself a
courageous fighter, and so in this way he was the better man.

9.71.4 This they may have said merely out of jealousy, but all the
aforesaid who were killed in that fight received honor, save Aristodemus;
he, because he desired death because of the reproach previously mentioned,
received none.

DanG

On Fri, Apr 24, 2015 at 11:09 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Quote: No dumb bastard ever won a war by going out and dying
> for
>               his country. George Patton
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Way back on March 18, 2011 JL started a discussion thread about a
> quotation attributed to George S. Patton. Now there is an entry on the
> topic on the Quote Investigator website with an acknowledgement to JL
> and other discussants. Feedback welcome.
>
> No Bastard Ever Won a War by Dying for His Country
> http://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/04/24/war/
>
> Garson
>
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