I don't think this thread has been done before, so...

Post quotes from history that you like, that are ironic, inspiring, funny, whatever.

One I like, since i like Native american history:

"It is a good day to fight! It is a good day to die! Strong hearts, brave hearts, to the front! Weakhearts and cowards, to the rear!" -Tashunka Witco (Crazy Horse)

The situation was more amazing than the speech itself. This was Crazy Horse, chief of the Lakota Sioux's war cry. He said this right before the Battle of the Rosebud, when ~500 Lakota and Cheyennes, armed mostly with bows and arrows, lances, and warclubs charged more than 1200 U.S. troops and Crow scouts with guns under General George Crook, inflicting casualties, and forcing them to retreat.

Post yours :)

I have several... :)

"If the twentieth century taught us anything, it was to be cautious about the word 'impossible'" -- Charles Platt

"Look at me well! I am still alive, and by the grace of God shall yet prove victor!" -- William the Conqueror on the battlefield at Hastings, when rumors of his demise spread among his troops.

"democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us." -- JFK at the Berlin Wall, 1963

and of course, my signature, spoken by Lester Pearson :)

Check your history of the Battle of The Rosebud... the Army was out numbered 3 to 1, and the Indians withdrew.

Earthpig

“Remember how you swore to each other in my presence that you would never leave the field except as conquerors.”
--Gaius Julius Caesar

Perhaps you are both correct...

http://www.du.edu/~dhagen/rosebud.html

Originally posted by wildWolverine
Perhaps you are both correct...

you got to figure it was hard and very subjective to get a good count on indian #'s in any fight--there were no regiments or battalions to count and get an idea, just a always moving mass, coming and going.impossiable to count

Check your history of the Battle of The Rosebud... the Army was out numbered 3 to 1, and the Indians withdrew.

The Indians withdrew, but Crook also withdrew. I never said that the Indians won, just that they forced Crook to retreat. Actually, both sides claimed they won, but if anything it was a victory for the Lakota, because Crook retreated all the way to his camp on Goose Creek, eating his horses on the way, for fear of Crazy Horse and his braves. Crook never came to back up Custer, if he did, Custer may have won.

Crook was definitely not outnumbered 3 to 1. have only seen one site that has claimed that, and that one is not a reliable one. Crook outnumbered the Lakota and Cheyenne 2 to 1.

http://www.theoldwestwebride.com/txt5/sit.html
http://www.historytelevision.ca/chiefs/htmlen/sioux/ev_rosebud.asp
www.psychicsvisions.net/SittingBull.html
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/episodes/six/goodday.htm
http://www.batteryb.com/gibbon.html


The book: "The Life and Death of Crazy Horse" also says that it was 500 Indians against 1200 U.S. and Crow troops.

Also, Ohiyesa, a prominent Dakota Sioux, said that the Indians were outnumbered 2 to 1, so did Rain-In-The-Face, and Iron Hawk, and they should know... they fought in the battle.

It is impossible for the Indians to have outnumbered Crook 3 to 1, there were only 3000 warriors in the entire camp of Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Assinaboine Indians. Of these, most of the warriors were left behind to protect the people. Crazy Horse just took a small group of elite warriors, to slow down or stop Crook's advance.

And pawpaw is correct, the Indians just came in a swarm, difficult to count the number. But I think Rain-In-The-Face's estimate is correct, as he was one of the prominent leaders of the Indians.

to play devils advocate--- the indian leaders most likely had no real knowledge of their #'s either, i don't think they reported in to roll call:) they came and went, on they other side the cavalry counts were quesses--- does that look like 500-600 hundred? yeah, o.k.so if the indians said 500 and the cavalry said 1500 it could be anywhere in between:)

"Vae Victus"

-Brennus

Means "woe to the vanquished." Probably everyone knows the story, when the Celts sacked Rome, and were being payed a ransome, the Romans complained that the Celts were using faulty scales. Brennus tossed his heavy sword onto the scales and said "Vae Victus."

The one in my sig. "A single death is a tragedy, a million is just a statistic." Think bout .......

That quote up there, the statistic....that was Stalin, wasn't it?

"We had a good Cabinet meeting, talked about a lot of issues. Secretary of State and Defense brought us up to date about our desires to spread freedom and peace around the world."—Washington, D.C., Aug. 1, 2003

- George W. Bush

Uh oh, better watch out! :eek:



Here he is ignoring history...

"For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times."—Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 18, 2002


And this one's just plain funny!

"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family."—Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000
:lol:



A few others....

We are not retreating -- we are advancing in another direction.

General Douglas MacArthur


"Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear."
-Alan Corenk

“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company.
-George Washington


"The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves which make us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them we are missing."
- Gamel Abdel Nasser, President Of Egypt
:lol:

'What do I think of Western civilization? It would certainly be a good idea'- Ghandi
:lol:

Oh, I forgot another one I liked...


"..it does not require a majority to prevail,
but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set
brush fires in people's minds.."
Samuel Adams

And another...

"America is a land where a citizen will cross the ocean to fight for democracy - and won't cross the street to vote in a national election.'' - Bill Vaughan, American journalist (1915-1977).



Only the dead have seen the end of war

-Plato

'My Job Is to Throw Bombs and Burn Houses,' Moluccan Boy Says
Well....okay, that was on The Onion.


Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
- George S. Patton


Another funny Bushism...

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
Quote by George Bush Jr. Jan. 11, 2000.


And this one is wrong, but funny if you take the political correctness out of it...

"You know the world is off tilt, when the best rapper is a white guy,
the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest basketball player is
Chinese, and Germany doesn't want to go to war." - Charles Barkley

I must admit, my knowlage of the indian wars comes from what I was taught in High School and learned from visiting the sites. All of which is dated, I could be wrong, but I'll look into it more.

"Casualties many; Percentage of dead not known; Combat efficiency: we are winning!" -COL. DAVID M. SHOUP, USMC

One of my favorite quotes...

Earthpig

Originally posted by The Yankee
That quote up there, the statistic....that was Stalin, wasn't it?


Yes it was.

"I have not yet begun to fight" -- JPJ, on the Bon Homme Richard

"Nuts" -- General MacAuliffe (when asked to surrender during the Battle of the Bulge, 1944)

Originally posted by The Yankee

Here he is ignoring history...

"For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times."—Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 18, 2002


Well, you must take into concideration "forming an alliance" STARTED with Admiral Peirce (sp?). I'm not denying we had rough times, including one war, in the time since then. But American relations with Japan started there, and it could be argued that the current "Alliance" would not have been made possible without the Admiral forcing Japan to open up to the western world.

Bush isn't saying that the Alliance had existed all that time, but that it was forming. You start forming a clay cup at 9am., at 10am. some kid smashes it, you finish at 12pm, and then put it in the kiln. You have been forming it since 9am. even though the progress was essentially destroyed at 10am. Not to mention some vestage of the former work on it remains, even though it has been smashed.

In late 1864, Jefferson Davis made a speech in which he promised that General Sherman's army (which had just captured Atlanta) would soon be forced to re-enact Napoleon's retreat from
Moscow, with general escaping only with a bodyguard.

When U.S Grant heard this, he remarked

" Mr. Davis has not made it quite plain who is to furnish the snow for this Moscow retreat".

The Yankee:

you left out,

the Swiss win the America's Cup and the French accuse the Americans of arrogance.

"Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once." - Julius Caesar

That is probably my favorite quote ever, and it is from Shakespeare's The Tragedie of Iulius Caesar.

"War is of vital importance to the state"- Sun Tzu

"The best defence, is a good offence"- Napoleon (or may be mistaken for Julius)

"Rapidity is the essence of warfare"- Sun Tzu

The Yankee:

you left out,

the Swiss win the America's Cup and the French accuse the Americans of arrogance.

Ah, my apologies, I did not have such a quote. Maybe it's because nobody spoke after being beaten in a yacht race by a nation that doesn't have any oceans....last I checked anyway...


:lol: :rolleyes:

Have I inadvertently said some evil thing?
-Phocion, Greek general & politician in Athens


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-Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

-You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans.


-My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.

-Ronald Reagan
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-A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.

-I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican.

-I have made good judgements in the Past. I have made good judgements in the Future.


-I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix.

-If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.

-People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history.

-Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.

-The American people would not want to know of any misquotes that Dan Quayle may or may not make.

-The future will be better tomorrow.

-We don't want to go back to tomorrow, we want to go forward.

-Dan Quayle
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-No hatred is so bitter as that of near relations
*oh how true that is!*

-It is the rare fortuene of these days that one may think what one likes and say what one thinks.
*true then in the Roman empire, and true now in the American one....*

-Cornelius Tacitus
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-I can't listen to that much Wagner. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland

-I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying. *me too*

-If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank.

-What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet.

-Woody Allen
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-Having the fewest wants, I am nearest to the gods. *and who said Athens was the most godless of the greeks....*

-Socrates

A collision at sea can ruin your entire day.
~Tacitus

Difficult, complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers.
~H. L. Mencken