Be the hunter, not the hunted: Never allow your unit to be caught with its guard down.
James MattisRead
Demonstrate to the world there is "No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy" than a U.S. Marine.
Interpretation
The quote underscores the loyalty and fierce determination of a U.S. Marine, emphasizing their dual role as a protector and a formidable opponent.
James Mattis's quote highlights the deep commitment and fierce loyalty that marines embody, suggesting that their friendship is unparalleled and their enmity is to be taken seriously. It reflects the idea that marines are not only fierce protectors of their comrades and country but also formidable adversaries when provoked, embodying the complex nature of military loyalty and strength.
In practice
Using this quote during a military graduation speech to emphasize the commitment of service members.
Be the hunter, not the hunted: Never allow your unit to be caught with its guard down.
I would happily storm hell in the company of these troops ... how strongly they have demonstrated to the world that free men and women can fight like the dickens.
For the mission's sake, our country's sake, and the sake of the men who carried the Division's colors in the past battles - who fought for life and never lost their nerve - carry out your mission and keep your honor clean. Demonstrate to the world there is "No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy" than a U.S. Marine.
You cannot allow any of your people to avoid the brutal facts. If they start living in a dream world, it's going to be bad.
We've backed off in good faith to try and give you a chance to straighten this problem out. But I am going to beg with you for a minute. I'm going to plead with you, do not cross us. Because if you do, the survivors will write about what we do here for 10,000 years.
In this age, I don't care how tactically or operationally brilliant you are, if you cannot create harmony - even vicious harmony - on the battlefield based on trust across service lines, across coalition and national lines, and across civilian/military lines, you need to go home, because your leadership is obsolete. We have got to have officers who can create harmony across all those lines.
I have survived. I am here. Confused, screwed up, but here. So, how can I find my way? Is there a chain saw of the soul, an ax I can take to my memories or fears?
He is courageous who endures and fears the right thing, for the right motive, in the right way and at the right times.
The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear
We did not hesitate to call our movement an army. But it was a special army, with no supplies but its sincerity, no uniform but its determination, no arsenal except its faith, no currency but its conscience.
If you haven't found something worth dying for, you're not fit to live.
I'm scared of him," said Piggy, "and that's why I know him. If you're scared of someone you hate him but you can't stop thinking about him. You kid yourself he's all right really, an' then when you see him again; it's like asthma an' you can't breathe.
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