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The commander must establish personal and comradely contact with his men, but without giving away one inch of authority.

Erwin Rommel

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Erwin Rommel
Age: 52 †
Born: 1891
Born: November 15
Died: 1944
Died: October 14
Military Officer
Resistance Fighter
Soldier
Heidenheim/Brenz
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel
Desert Fox
Wüstenfuchs
Must
Inch
Giving
Establish
Men
Inches
Contact
Authority
Personal
Away
Commander
Without
Commanders

More quotes by Erwin Rommel

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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.
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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.
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One of the most important factors, not only in military matters but in life as a whole, is ... the ability to direct one's whole energies towards the fulfillment of a particular task.
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I would rather be the hammer than the anvil
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It is often possible to decide the issue of a battle merely by making an unexpected shift of one's main weight.
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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.
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But courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility.
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The battle is fought and decided by the quartermasters, long before the shooting begins.
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In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine.
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One cannot permit unique opportunities to slip by for the sake of trifles.
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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.
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The battle is going very heavily against us. We're being crushed by the enemy weight. We are facing very difficult days, perhaps the most difficult that a man can undergo
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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.
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The best form of welfare for the troops is first-rate training.
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I would rather he had given me one more division
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A risk is a chance you take if it fails you can recover. A gamble is a chance taken if it fails, recovery is impossible.
Erwin Rommel
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To every man of us, Tobruk was a symbol of British resistance and we were now going to finish with it for good.
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There is one unalterable difference between a soldier and a civilian: the civilian never does more than he is paid to do.
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Messages can't be intercepted if they aren't sent, can they?
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There are always times where the place of a commander isn't back with his Major State, but onward with his troops.
Erwin Rommel