"We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart." H. L. Mencken
Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
Ambrose Bierce
Absurdity, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.
Ambrose Bierce
''Try and learn from other people their mistakes, because you simply don't live long enough to make them all.''
"If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise." - Robert Fritz.
Quote:At least a shotgun won't decieve me. It's full of pellets, not lies!
Gordon Freeman, from Freeman's Mind on YouTube.
You should make a point of trying every experience once, except incest and folk-dancing. -unknown.
' Wrote:"When surrounded on all sides, you can attack from any direction."
-Unknown
Don't know why I missed this way back, but what you were looking for is this :
Gentlemen, for the first time in the history of this campaign, we are now in a position to attack the enemy in any direction. ~ General Creighton Abrams
I'm not 100% certain, but I believe I encountered that statement in a book about the Korean War titled
Retreat, Hell! Were Just Attacking in a Different Direction : the epic story of the 1st Marines in Korea, by Jim Wilson. Apart from that, I'm wanting to posit Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge, but my quickie research says that Abrams was part of the relief force for Bastogne, although it might have applied somewhere nearby in Winter 1944.
I am sure that it originated from one of those two, and Abrams was involved in both. Your paraphrase provides an accurate picture of the tactical situation at the time, which the rhetorical flourish of the actual quotation does not. Generally, file it under the heading Optimism.
I think there may be a similar phrase employed by Chesty Puller (Lewis Burwell Puller) with the first Marines in Korea as my 'Corp history lessons -may- dictate.
"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things."
Ah, there we go. That's the Chesty line.
Assorted HL Mencken:
A man may be a fool and not know it, but not if he is married.
Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.
All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it.
An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.
Before a man speaks it is always safe to assume that he is a fool. After he speaks, it is seldom necessary to assume it.
Communism, like any other revealed religion, is largely made up of prophecies.
Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.
Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
Meh, linky is easier:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/author...ncken.html