The best generals I have known were... stupid or absent-minded men. Not only does a good army commander not need any special qualities, on the contrary he needs the absence of the highest and best human attributes -- love, poetry, tenderness, and philosophic inquiring doubt. He should be limited, firmly convinced that what he is doing is very important (otherwise he will not have sufficient patience), and only then will he be a brave leader. God forbid that he should be humane, should love, or pity, or think of what is just and unjust.

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My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

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Bill Clinton is not my commander-in-chief.

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My name is Maximus Desimus Meridius, commander of the armies of the north, general of the Felix legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Areillius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife, and I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.

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In war, when a commander becomes so bereft of reason and perspective that he fails to understand the dependence of arms on Divine guidance, he no longer deserves victory.

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It would appear that General Hooker has placed his hindquarters where his headquarters should be. (So said by Lee when he learned that General Hooker, the new Union Commander, had written, in a letter to his soldiers, that My headquarters will be 'in the saddle.'

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To be a good soldier, you must love the army. To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.

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[Oliver North is a] document-shredding, Constitution-trashing, Commander in Chief-bashing, Congress-thrashing, uniform-shaming, Ayatollah-lovi...

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Name a shrub after me. Somthing prickly and hard to erradicate.

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[If the foregoing was simply insensitive, George W. Bush's comparison of the first U.S. war against Iraq, when his dad was commander in chief, and the current U.S. war against Iraq is damning. In] Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, John Kerry and the Bush Haters ... I think freedom will prevail, so long as the U.S. and its allies don't ... do what many Iraqis still suspect might happen, and that is cut and run early, like what happened in '91.

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The soldier's heart, the soldier's spirit, the soldier's soul, are everything. Unless the soldier's soul sustains him he cannot be relied on and will fail himself and his commander and his country in the end.

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As the ancient commander addressed his soldiers before battle, so should the moralist speak to men in the struggle of the era.

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2 Kings 5:1:
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
(NIV)
NAAMAN, COMMANDER of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, accepted [and acceptable], because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
(AMP)
Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.
(KJV)

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Before we let you leave, your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse.

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Acts 4:1:
The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.
(NIV)
AND WHILE they [Peter and John] were talking to the people, the high priests and the military commander of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them
(AMP)
And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,
(KJV)

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