James Mattis Quotes
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The Marines have landed, and we now own a piece of Afghanistan.
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For whatever trauma came with service in tough circumstances, we should take what we learned - take our post-traumatic growth - and, like past generations coming home, bring our sharpened strengths to bear, bring our attitude of gratitude to bear.
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It's a lot easier to stay idealistic if you don't sign two to five next-of-kin letters every day.
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Putin goes to bed at night knowing he can break all the rules, and the West will follow all the rules.
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If you can't eat it, shoot it, or wear it, don't bring it.
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You stay teachable most by reading books. By reading what other people went through.
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Most people know nobody in the military.
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Sometimes there are no good guys. There are no bad guys. It seems like everybody is in the middle.
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Notifying the enemy in advance of our withdrawal dates or reassuring the enemy that we will not use certain capabilities like our ground forces should be avoided.
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There is nothing better than getting shot at and missed. It's really great.
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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.
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There is no room for military people, including our veterans, to see themselves as victims, even if so many of our countrymen are prone to relish that role.
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Iran is not an enemy of ISIS; they have a lot to gain from the turmoil that ISIS creates.
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The economy's always been the engine for our national security.
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There's an urgent need to stop reacting to each immediate vexing issue in isolation. Such response often creates unanticipated second-order effects and even more problems for us.
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As commanders and staff officers, we are coaches and sentries for our units: how can we coach anything if we don't know a hell of a lot more than just the TTPs?
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It's very hard to live with yourself if you don't stick with your moral code.
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Fight with a happy heart.
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There are hunters, and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience, and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim.
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I would just say there is one misperception of our veterans, and that is they are somehow damaged goods. I don't buy it.
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We should not fight wars without a clearly defined end state... when you go to war, it can't be a half-step.
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Read about history, and you become aware that nothing starts with us.
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There is one way to have a short but exciting conversation with me, and that is to move too slow.