Erwin Rommel Quotes

Erwin Rommel shares plain-spoken, military-savvy insights on leadership, warfare and strategy.

49 quotes

1. In a man to man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine.

2. Courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility.

3. In view of my services in Africa, I have the chance of dying by poison. Two generals have brought it with them. It is fatal in three seconds. If I take the poison, none of the usual steps will be taken against my family; that is, against you. They will also leave my staff alone.

4. Mortal danger is an effective antidote for fixed ideas.

5. The German soldier has impressed the world, however the Italian Bersagliere soldier has impressed the German soldier.

6. Men are basically smart or dumb and lazy or ambitious. The dumb and ambitious ones are dangerous and I get rid of them. The dumb and lazy ones I give mundane duties. The smart ambitious ones I put on my staff. The smart and lazy ones I make my commanders.

7. Be an example to your men in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself, and let the troops see that you don't in your endurance of fatigue and privation. Always be tactful and well-mannered, and teach your subordinates to be the same. Avoid excessive sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide.

8. Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning.

9. I would be rather more happy had he given me one more division.

10. In the absence of orders, go find something and kill it.

11. One must not judge everyone in the world by his qualities as a soldier: otherwise we should have no civilization.

12. Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains save both.

13. The art of concentrating strength at one point, forcing a breakthrough, rolling up and securing the flanks on either side, and then penetrating like lightning deep into his rear, before the enemy has time to react.

14. The future battle on the ground will be preceded by battle in the air. This will determine which of the contestants has to suffer operational and tactical disadvantages and be forced throughout the battle into adopting compromise solutions.

15. There are always times where the place of a commander isn't back with his Major State, but onward with his troops.

16. For the Allies and Germany it will be the longest day. The longest day.

17. I didn't die nor win.

18. For me, soldiers are all equal. Those black people wore your same uniform, fought on your side, and so you will be in the same jail.

19. Gentlemen, you have fought like lions and been led by donkeys.

20. Good soldiers, bad officers; but remember that without them we wouldn't have civilization.

21. Dialogue with Italian general Barbasetti at Capuzzo. Barbassetti: 'it was very painful the sacrifice of the X Army Corps abandoned in the desert'; Rommel: 'is this a critic? no disapproval words have come from the Fuhrer'; Barbassetti: 'I watched the endless column of retreating companies, German drivers rejected to pick up on their trucks the Italians'. After these words Rommel silenced.

22. If I had to take hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it.

23. We have a very daring and skillful opponent against us, and, may I say across the havoc of war, a great General.

24. Rommel was jumpy, wanted to do everything at once, then lost interest. Rommel was my superior in command in Normandy. I cannot say Rommel wasn't a good general. When successful, he was good; during reverses, he became depressed.

25. He was the best leader of fast-moving troops but only up to army level. Above that level it was too much for him. Rommel was given too much responsibility. He was a good commander for a corps of army but he was too moody, too changeable. One moment he would be enthusiastic, next moment depressed.

26. Rommel, you magnificent bastard! I read your book!

27. Anybody who came under the spell of his personality turned into a real soldier. He seemed to know what the enemy were like and how they would react.

28. Which would your men rather be, tired, or dead?

29. It's better for one to die than for all of us to be killed in a shooting affray. Anyway, we've practically no ammunition.

30. Anyone who has to fight, even with the most modern weapons, against an enemy in complete command of the air, fights like a savage against modern European troops, under the same handicaps and with the same chances of success.

31. The commander must be at constant pains to keep his troops abreast of all the latest tactical experience and developments, and must insist on their practical application. He must see to it that his subordinates are trained in accordance with the latest requirements. The best form of welfare for the troops is first-class training, for this saves unnecessary casualties.

32. Training errors are recorded on paper. Tactical errors are etched in stone.

33. One cannot permit unique opportunities to slip by for the sake of trifles.

34. The best form of welfare for the troops is first-rate training.

35. In Tunisia the Americans had to pay a stiff price for their experience, but it brought rich dividends. Even at that time, the American generals showed themselves to be very advanced in the tactical handling of their forces, although we had to wait until the Patton Army in France to see the most astonishing achievements in mobile warfare.

36. When there's no clear option, it's better to do nothing.

37. The enemy must be annihilated before he reaches our main battlefield. We must stop him in the water, destroying all his equipment while it is still afloat!

38. Messages can't be intercepted if they aren't sent, can they?

39. War makes extremely heavy demands on the soldier's strength and nerves. For this reason, make heavy demands on your men in peacetime exercises.

40. The battle is fought and decided by the quartermasters, long before the shooting begins.

41. There is one unalterable difference between a soldier and a civilian: the civilian never does more than he is paid to do.

42. He [Hitler] seemed very depressed and upset about the Stalingrad disaster. He said that one is always liable to look on the black side of things after a defeat, a tendency which can lead one into dangerous and false conclusions.

43. The organization of supplies, the command of men, anything in any way constructive requires more than intellect; it requires energy and drive and an unrelenting will to serve the cause, regardless of one's personal interests.

44. The peril of the hour moved the British to tremendous exertions, just as always in a moment of extreme danger things can be done which had previously been thought impossible. Mortal danger is an effective antidote for fixed ideas.

45. To every man of us, Tobruk was a symbol of British resistance and we were now going to finish with it for good.

46. Manstein is a man of illusions. ... He believes Hitler will listen to facts.

47. Always in a moment of extreme danger things can be done which had previously been thought impossible.

48. Winning the men's confidence requires much of a commander. He must exercise care and caution, look after his men, live under the same hardships, and-above all- apply self discipline. But once he has their confidence, his men will follow him through hell and high water.

49. It is often possible to decide the issue of a battle merely by making an unexpected shift of one's main weight.