Historical Quotes

[Verbose]

And you guys think "nuts!" is an appropriate response to an request to surrender.

Yeah, well, I think it's generally recognised that the reply only became "Nuts!" in the santised version deemed fit for public consumption by US media.

The actual reply would get screened out by the auto-censor on this site.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I've only read the quote in question in sources that would not bother sanitizing it, and they don't even consider the possibility that it was anything other than "Nuts!"

 

[Swedishguy]

Are you talking about the Battle of the Bulge? At what time was that said?

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

The CO of the 101st Division, General McAuliffe, when the Germans demanded the surrender of the forces at Bastogne, an important crossroads.

Like I said, though, I am sure one of the books I read would have mentioned if he had said something else, or even if he was thought to have said something else.

 

[Steph]

Even Wiki says he could have said something else

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_McAuliffe

Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

If he really said that, that's not very original.

Pierre Cambronne already answered that to the English at Waterloo

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Maybe . . . but it's the first I heard, so I am surprised I never heard it as a possibility before.

 

[privatehudson]

I still think there's a case for "merde" being said by Petit and not Cambronne. At least he had the decency to fulfil the longer version by getting himself killed!

 

[Swedishguy]

"We have no kind of foreign competition."

 

[Godwynn]

we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

We are told that Herr Hitler has a plan for invading the British Isles. This has often been thought of before. When Napoleon lay at Boulogne for a year with his flat-bottomed boats and his Grand Army, he was told by someone. "There are bitter weeds in England."

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

My favorite.

 

[jessiecat]

" C'est magnifique! Parce que ce n'est pas la guerre."
( French officer to British commander viewing the charge of the Light Brigade)

 

[Steph]

The actual quote was

"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre. C'est de la folie!"

 

[holy king]

The actual quote was

"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre. C'est de la folie!"

that makes more sense

 

[aronnax]

England is a nation of Shopkeepers - Napoleon

 

[Verbose]

England is a nation of Shopkeepers - Napoleon

"The British are a race of sore losers." - Roald Amundssen.

 

[jessiecat]

The actual quote was

"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre. C'est de la folie!"

Sorry about that. I substituted because for but. My bad French.
That's what happens when you try to quote something from memory.
BTW I wasn't aware of the last phrase either."de la folie"?

 

[Steph]

Sorry about that. I substituted because for but. My bad French.
That's what happens when you try to quote something from memory.
BTW I wasn't aware of the last phrase either."de la folie"?

Only the first part is quoted most of the time, but the full sentence was

"It's magnificent. But it's not war, it's madness!"

 

[holy king]

Sorry about that. I substituted because for but. My bad French.
That's what happens when you try to quote something from memory.
BTW I wasn't aware of the last phrase either."de la folie"?

"this is madness/insanity"

edit: xpost...

 

[privatehudson]

Yes, and they went down very well too.
- Wellington's retort to a comment on how very well French cavalry had come up at Waterloo.



After all, the Light Brigade were only mad enough to charge once

 

[Steph]

Well, if they had waited for the help of the heavy brigade, they wouldn't have been to do anything else after the first charge.

Fortunately, the French Chasseurs d'Afrique allowed enough survivors to withdraw so they could tell the tale later.

 

[privatehudson]

oopsie, needs deleting