Duke of Wellington Quotes

Wise people learn when they can; fools learn when they must.

Our army is composed of the scum of the earth - the mere scum of the earth.

We always have been, we are, and I hope that we always shall be detested in France.

Being born in a stable does not make one a horse.

I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but by God, they frighten me.

All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavour to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called 'guess what was at the other side of the hill'.

The hardest thing of all for a soldier is to retreat.

Educate men without religion and you make them clever devils.

An extraordinary affair. I gave them their orders and they wanted to stay and discuss them.

I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life.

The British soldiers are fellows who have all enlisted for drink. That is the plain fact - they have all enlisted for drink.

During the Peninsula War, I heard a Portuguese general address his troops before a battle with the words, "Remember men, you are Portuguese!"

Be discreet in all things, and so render it unnecessary to be mysterious about any.

If you had seen one day of war, you would pray to God that you would never see another.

To define it rudely but not ineptly, engineering is the art of doing for 10 shillings what any fool can do for a pound

Always make water when you can.

When other Generals make mistakes their armies are beaten; when I get into a hole, my men pull me out of it.

Always get over heavy ground as lightly as you can.

Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.

The only thing I am afraid of is fear.

When my journal appears, many statues must come down.

There is nothing so dreadful as a great victory--except a great defeat.

Yes, about ten minutes.

Troops would never be deficient in courage, if they could only know how deficient in it their enemies were.

Hard pounding, gentlemen. Let's see who pounds the longest.

When one begins to turn in bed, it is time to get up.

A great country can have no such thing as a little war.

The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.

The only thing that they can be relied on to do is to gallop too far and too fast.

The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.

The whole art of war consists in getting at what is on the other side of the hill.

A great country cannot wage a little war.

There are no manifestos like cannon and musketry.

There is nothing on earth so stupid as a gallant officer.

Call on a business man only at business times, and on business; transact your business, and go about your business, in order to give him time to finish his business.

Victory is the ability to fight five minutes longer than any other army in the world.

Error is ever the sequence of haste.

The scum of the earth... but what fine soldiers we have made them.

I have got an infamous army, very weak and ill-equipped, and a very inexperienced staff.

I mistrust the judgment of every man in a case in which his own wished are concerned

You must build your House of Parliament on the river: so... that the populace cannot exact their demands by sitting down round you.

Napoleon has humbugged me, by God; he has gained twenty-four hours' march on me.

What masks are these uniforms to hide cowards!

Rashness is oftener the resort of cowardice than of courage.

I used to say of him that his presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men.

My heart is broken by the terrible loss I have sustained in my old friends and companions and my poor soldiers. Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.

The French system of conscription brings together a fair sample of all classes; ours is composed of the scum of the earth - the mere scum of the earth. It is only wonderful that we should be able to make so much out of them afterwards.

I attribute my success on the battlefield to always being on the spot to see and do everything for myself

I hate the whole race. There is no believing a word they say, your professional poets, I mean there never existed a more worthless set than Byron and his friends for example.

I have no small talk and Peel has no manners.