Painterly two toy soldiers on scorched ground, one standing and one fallen, beneath a smoky sky.

Original artwork, not a still

General George S. Patton, Jr.

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

This blunt military maxim reframes patriotic sacrifice, arguing that the goal of war isn't noble self-sacrifice but inflicting loss on the enemy instead. It's a deliberately unsentimental statement, stripping away romantic notions of dying for one's country in favor of practical, ruthless calculation.

Context reviewed

Share this quote