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Remember the first rule of gunfighting ... have a gun.

Jeff Cooper

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Jeff Cooper
Age: 86 †
Born: 1920
Born: May 10
Died: 2006
Died: September 25
Author
Celebrity
Journalist
Military Officer
Sport Shooter
Writer
LA
California
Gun
Rule
Remember
Firsts
First

More quotes by Jeff Cooper

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Without the institution of slavery, civilization would never have been achieved, for no one could ever have done anything intellectual if he had to spend all his time hewing and digging and fighting.
Jeff Cooper
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I have long had a tendency to tie marksmanship to morality. The essence of good marksmanship is self-control, and self-control is the essence of good citizenship. It is too easy to say that a good shot is automatically a good man, but it would be equally incorrect to ignore the connection.
Jeff Cooper
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By doing what our assailant least expects us to do, we may throw him completely off. ... what he usually least suspects is instant, violent counterattack, so the principle of aggressiveness is closely tied to threat of surprise.
Jeff Cooper
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Know what is behind you, and pay particular attention to anything out of place.
Jeff Cooper
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On the very instant that we know that our assailant intends us serious physical harm, we must work just as fast as we can.
Jeff Cooper
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Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands.
Jeff Cooper
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Anyone who willfully and maliciously attacks another without sufficient cause jeopardize the lives of others.
Jeff Cooper
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If you must use your hands, use them with all the strength you possess... If you choose to strike, by all means strike hard.
Jeff Cooper
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Use your eyes. Do not enter unfamiliar areas that you cannot observe first. Make it a practice to swing wide around corners, use window glass for rearward visibility, and get something solid behind you when you pause.
Jeff Cooper
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The consensus is that no more than five to ten people in a hundred who die by gunfire in Los Angeles are any loss to society. These people fight small wars amongst themselves. It would seem a valid social service to keep them well-supplied with ammunition.
Jeff Cooper
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It appears that the murder rate inside prisons is ten times higher than that outside prisons. It must be due to all those Kalashnikov rifles that are issued to prisoners upon their incarceration.
Jeff Cooper
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Therefore, if you are attacked, retaliate instantly. Be sudden. Be quick. Speed is your salvation.
Jeff Cooper
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It seems evident that the basis for civil safety is homogeneity. A culture which is socially uniform is pretty well devoid of informal violence.
Jeff Cooper
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Any man who is a man may not, in honor, submit to threats or violence. But many men who are not cowards are simply unprepared for the fact of human savagery.
Jeff Cooper
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Aggressiveness carries with it an incalculable moral edge in any combat, offensive or defensive.
Jeff Cooper
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If a felon attacks you and lives, he will reasonably conclude that he can do it again. By submitting to him, you not only imperil your own life, but you jeopardize the lives of others.
Jeff Cooper
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It has long been my conviction that a masked man with a gun is a target. I see no reason to change that view.
Jeff Cooper
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The perfect fight is one that is over before the loser really understands what is going on. The perfect defense is a counterattack that succeeds before the assailant discovers that he has bitten off more than he can chew.
Jeff Cooper
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The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.
Jeff Cooper
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A smart man only believes half of what he hears, a wise man knows which half.
Jeff Cooper