Words matter. These are the best Jim Mattis Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
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.
It is not scientifically possible to accurately predict the outcome of an action. To suggest otherwise runs contrary to historical experience and the nature of war.
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.
There is nothing better than getting shot at and missed. It’s really great.
Iran is not an enemy of ISIS; they have a lot to gain from the turmoil that ISIS creates.
So long as our Corps fields such Marines, America has nothing to fear from tyrants, be they Fascists, Communists or Tyrants with Medieval Ideology. For we serve in a Corps with no institutional confusion about our purpose: To fight! To fight well!
Marines don’t know how to spell the word ‘defeat’.
The Iranian regime, in my mind, is the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East.
I have never been bewildered for long in any fight with our enemies – I was Armed with Insight.
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.
We all recognize that the Mid-east is dissolving into crises, and we know terrorism did not start with 9-11.
The economy’s always been the engine for our national security.
I believe that many of my young guys lived because I didn’t waste their lives because I didn’t have the vision in my mind of how to destroy the enemy at least cost to our guys and to the innocents on the battlefields.
There are going to be good days and bad days. Bottom line.
I’ve always found, give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers, and I do better with that than I do with torture.
There is only one ‘retirement plan’ for terrorists.
There is one way to have a short but exciting conversation with me, and that is to move too slow.
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.
No matter how bad any situation, cynicism has no positive impact. Watching the news, you might notice that cynicism and victimhood often seem to go hand-in-hand, but not for veterans.
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.
Engage your brain before you engage your weapon.
For the mission’s sake, for our country’s sake, and the sake of the men who carried the Division’s colors in past battles – carry out your mission and keep your honor clean.
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?
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.
There’s no way that that our military power will not erode if a robust American economic revival is not part of the cards.
There are many people who do not know if the U.S. Army has 60,000 men or 6 million. They do not have a clue about that.
The example that America knows how to govern itself is one of the compelling aspects of our national security.
I was a Marine for 41 years, and it wasn’t long enough. We enjoy putting on that uniform.
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.
I don’t think the U.S. military is conservative. It’s pragmatic.
Some people feel affronted when something they thought to be true doesn’t happen. If that’s the case, then your sense of risk is much higher, and that leads to risk aversion. You need to be able to be comfortable in uncertainty.
We should not fight wars without a clearly defined end state… when you go to war, it can’t be a half-step.
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.
In an interconnected age when opportunistic adversaries can work in tandem to destroy stability and prosperity, our country needs to regain its strategic footing. We need to bring the clarity to our efforts before we lose the confidence of the American people and the support of potential allies.
There are a lot of self-imposed restrictions by people who somehow believe they have to fall in with a certain military cant. There was always a sense that we had to put things into words that would touch our troops’ hearts, not just their heads.
It’s not an easy course. It’s not designed to be. We’re not here to get you in touch with your inner child.
The Army was always big on Clausewitz, the Prussian; the Navy on Alfred Thayer Mahan, the American; and the Air Force on Giulio Douhet, the Italian. But the Marine Corps has always been more Eastern-oriented. I am much more comfortable with Sun-tzu and his approach to warfare.
Demonstrate to the world, there is ‘No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy’ than a U.S. Marine.
You must reward the kind of behavior that you want.
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.
I don’t write policy for my government.
There is no God-given right to victory on the battlefield. You win that through the skill and the devotion, the valor and the ferocity of your troops.
Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.
While victimhood in America is exalted, I don’t think our veterans should join those ranks.
I would just say there is one misperception of our veterans, and that is they are somehow damaged goods. I don’t buy it.