Douglas MacArthur Quotes
The article contains quotes by Douglas MacArthur, an American general and a World War II hero.
“In the final analysis of the West Point product, character is the most precious component.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Duty, Honor, Country: They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for action; not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm, but to have compassion on those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future, yet never neglect the past; to be serious, yet never take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness; the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. They give you a temperate will, a quality of imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, an appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what next, and the joy and inspiration of life. They teach you in this way to be an officer and a gentleman.” – Douglas MacArthur
“The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training – sacrifice.” – Douglas MacArthur
“…the American man at war… I regarded him then, as I regard him now, as one of the world’s greatest figures -- not only in the era which witnessed his achievements but for all eyes and for all time. I regarded him as not only one of the greatest military figures but also as one of the most stainless; his name and fame are the birthright of every American citizen.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Through all this welter of change and development, your mission remains fixed, determined, inviolable. It is to win our wars.” – Douglas MacArthur
“In war, there is no substitute for victory.” – Douglas MacArthur
“I shall return.” – Douglas MacArthur
“This is the voice of freedom, General MacArthur speaking. People of the Philippines: I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil – soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples. We have come, dedicated and committed to the task of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily lives, and of restoring, upon a foundation of indestructible strength, the liberties of your people.” – Douglas MacArthur on His Return to the Philippines during World War II
“It was with you I lived my greatest moments. It is of you I have my greatest memories.” – Douglas MacArthur’s Speech about the 42nd Rainbow Infantry Division
Douglas MacArthur Quote: The West Point Product
Douglas MacArthur Quote: An Officer and A Gentleman
“Only those are fit to live who are not afraid to die.” – Veterans of the 42nd Rainbow Infantry Division of World War I and Douglas MacArthur
“I know war as few other men now living know it, and nothing to me is more revolting. I have long advocated its complete abolition, as its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Once war is forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end.” – Douglas MacArthur
“There are some who for varying reasons would appease Red China. They are blind to history’s clear lesson, for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier wars. It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means, where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace. Like blackmail, it lays the basis for new and successively greater demands until, as in blackmail, violence becomes the only other alternative.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Rally to me. Let the indomitable spirit of Bataan and Corregidor lead on. As the lines of battle roll forward… Let no heart be faint. Let every arm be steeled.” – Douglas MacArthur on His Return to the Philippines during World War II
“It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past - a world founded upon faith and understanding - a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish - for freedom, tolerance and justice.” – Douglas MacArthur during the 1945 Surrender of Japan Ceremony in Japan
“Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The skies no longer rain death. The seas bear only commerce. Men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world lies quietly at peace. The holy mission has been completed.” – Douglas MacArthur’s Speech on the Surrender of Japan and the End of World War II
“To the Pacific basin has come the vista of a new emancipated world. Today, freedom is on the offensive, democracy is on the march. Today, in Asia as well as in Europe, unshackled peoples are tasting the full sweetness of liberty, the relief from fear.” – Douglas MacArthur’s Speech on the Surrender of Japan and the End of World War II
“In the Philippines, America has evolved a model for this new free world of Asia. In the Philippines, America has demonstrated that peoples of the East and peoples of the West may walk side by side in mutual respect and with mutual benefit.” – Douglas MacArthur’s Speech on the Surrender of Japan and the End of World War II
“I know of no nation more serene, orderly and industrious, nor in which higher hopes can be entertained for future constructive service in the advance of the human race.” – Douglas MacArthur Quote about Japan in His 1951 Speech, “Old Soldiers Never Die”
Douglas MacArthur Quote: Nothing More Revolting than War
Douglas MacArthur Quote: Appeasement Begets New and Bloodier War
“Of our former ward, the Philippines, we can look forward in confidence that the existing unrest will be corrected and a strong and healthy nation will grow in the longer aftermath of war’s terrible destructiveness. We must be patient and understanding and never fail them. As in our hour of need, they did not fail us.” – Douglas MacArthur Quote about the Philippines in His 1951 Speech, “Old Soldiers Never Die”
“Give me ten thousand Filipinos and I shall conquer the world.” – Douglas MacArthur
“A Christian nation, the Philippines stands as a mighty bulwark of Christianity in the Far East, and its capacity for high moral leadership in Asia is unlimited.” – Douglas MacArthur
“War’s very object is victory, not prolonged indecision.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Success in war depends upon men, not money.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Men since the beginning of time have sought peace. Various methods through the ages have been attempted to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes between nations… but the mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope have never been successful. Military alliances, balances of power, Leagues of Nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war now blocks out this alternative.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Every nation that would preserve its tranquility, its riches, its independence, and its self-respect must keep alive its martial ardor and be at all times prepared to defend itself.” – Douglas MacArthur
“I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barracks ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that old soldiers never die; they just fade away. And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty.” – Douglas MacArthur’s “Old Soldiers Never Die” Speech
“Believe me, sir, never a night goes by, be I ever so tired, but I read the Word of God before I go to bed.” – Douglas MacArthur
“By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder - infinitely prouder - to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys. The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life.” – Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur Quote: Old Soldiers Never Die
Douglas MacArthur Quote: Reading the Word of God
“It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battle but in the home repeating with him our simple daily prayer, ‘Our Father who art in heaven.’” – Douglas MacArthur
“No one desires peace as much as the soldier, for he must pay the greatest penalty in war.” – Douglas MacArthur
“I thank a merciful God that he has given us the faith, the courage, and the power from which to mold victory. We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph, and from both we have learned there can be no turning back. We must go forward to preserve in peace what we won in war.” – Douglas MacArthur’s Speech on the Surrender of Japan and the End of World War II
“Dionysius, the ancient thinker, twenty centuries ago uttered these words: ‘It is a law of nature, common to all mankind, which time shall neither annul nor destroy, that those that have greater strength and power shall bear rule over those who have less.’ Unpleasant as they may be to hear, disagreeable as they may be to contemplate, the history of the world bears ample testimony to their truth and wisdom.” – Douglas MacArthur
“The springs of human conflict cannot be eradicated through institutions but only through the reform of the individual human being.” – Douglas MacArthur
“While Asia is commonly referred to as the Gateway to Europe, it is no less true that Europe is the Gateway to Asia, and the broad influence of the one cannot fail to have its impact upon the other. There are those who claim our strength is inadequate to protect on both fronts, that we cannot divide our effort. I can think of no greater expression of defeatism.” – Douglas MacArthur
“If a potential enemy can divide his strength on two fronts, it is for us to counter his effort. The Communist threat is a global one.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Mustering half of the earth’s population, and 60 percent of its natural resources these peoples are rapidly consolidating a new force, both moral and material, with which to raise the living standard and erect adaptations of the design of modern progress to their own distinct cultural environments. Whether one adheres to the concept of colonization or not, this is the direction of Asian progress and it may not be stopped. It is a corollary to the shift of the world economic frontiers as the whole epicenter of world affairs rotates back toward the area whence it started.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Security lies in our ability to produce. The brilliance and rugged determination of our industrial leaders, coupled with the skill, energy, and patriotism of our workers, have built an almost impregnable defense against hostile designs. This productive strength, more than any treaty or diplomatic assurance, is the surest guarantee of our safety.” – Douglas MacArthur
“It is fatal to enter a war without the will to win it.” – Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur Quote: Hope for His Son
Douglas MacArthur Quote: The Soldier Desires Peace
“When I joined the Army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Build me a son whose heart will be clean, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.”– Douglas MacArthur Prayer
“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.” – Douglas MacArthur
“Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul.” – Douglas MacArthur
“I shall set my course to the end that no man need fear to speak the truth.” – Douglas MacArthur
“This does not mean that you are warmongers. On the contrary, the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: ‘Only the dead have seen the end of war.’” – Douglas MacArthur
“Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war, there is no substitute for victory, that if you lose, the nation will be destroyed, that the very obsession of your public service must be Duty, Honor, Country.” – Douglas MacArthur
“For that reason, I have strongly recommended in the past, as a matter of military urgency, that under no circumstances must Formosa [Taiwan] fall under Communist control. Such an eventuality would at once threaten the freedom of the Philippines and the loss of Japan and might well force our western frontier back to the coast of California, Oregon and Washington.” – Douglas MacArthur
“I have from the beginning believed that the Chinese Communists’ support of the North Koreans was the dominant one. Their interests are at present parallel with those of the Soviet, but I believe that the aggressiveness recently displayed not only in Korea but also in Indo-China and Tibet and pointing potentially toward the South reflects predominantly the same lust for the expansion of power which has animated every would-be conqueror since the beginning of time.” – Douglas MacArthur
“I had learned one of the bitter lessons of life: never try to regain the past, the fire will have become ashes.” – Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur Quote: I Have Returned / Image: Leyte Landing of MacArthur
“This is the voice of freedom, General MacArthur speaking. People of the Philippines: I have returned. By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil – soil consecrated in the blood of our two peoples.” – US General Douglas MacArthur, 1944