James Mattis Quotes
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Marines don't know how to spell the word 'defeat'.
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Prime Minister Maliki, released from American restraint, acted on his worst instincts, creating enormous distrust in Iraq's Kurdish population and deeply embittering Sunnis in western Iraq's Al Anbar, who lost any confidence in a Baghdad government they saw as adversarial.
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What we achieved was a nuclear pause, not a nuclear halt.
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We know that in tough times, cynicism is just another way to give up, and in the military, we consider cynicism or giving up simply as forms of cowardice.
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I don't have the best track record with quotes.
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I don't lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word.
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The Corps is in good hands, and it's been a privilege to serve with the Leathernecks. Now it's time to go.
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I'm on record that it didn't really traumatize me to do away with some people.
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The fundamental question I believe is, 'Is political Islam in our best interest?' If not, what is our policy to authoritatively support the countervailing forces?
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I don't worry about stress. I create it.
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I've had some 'riotous excursions of the human spirit' alongside the young Sailors and Marines, and it's time to leave the stage to the young leaders who got their rank the old-fashioned way - they earned their stripes in combat.
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While victimhood in America is exalted, I don't think our veterans should join those ranks.
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I would storm the gates of Hell if Third Marine Air Wing was overhead.
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I was a Marine for 41 years, and it wasn't long enough. We enjoy putting on that uniform.
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Since coming back from overseas, this is more of a foreign country than the places overseas. I don't understand it. It's like America has lost faith in rational thought.
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We all recognize that the Mid-east is dissolving into crises, and we know terrorism did not start with 9-11.
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I like the enemy knowing there are a few guys like me around.
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Wherever the enemy wants to fight, we will follow him to the ends of the Earth. We'll adapt, we'll train, we'll advise, we'll mentor, and we'll fight, and we'll fight well.
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You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway.
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I can't tell you the number of times I looked down at what was going on on the ground, or I was engaged in a fight somewhere, and I knew within a couple of minutes how I was going to screw up the enemy. And I knew it because I'd done so much reading.
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The military can buy our diplomats some time.
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You must reward the kind of behavior that you want.
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The U.S. military is not war weary. Our military draws strength from confronting our enemies when clear policy objectives are set and we are fully resourced for the fight.
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In a country with millions of people and cars going everywhere, the enemy is going to get a car bomb out there once in awhile.