On the ride back from DC this past weekend I was swapping stories with a couple of guys about some of the better experiences we've had in our lives. One of these was getting to meet Rommel's son while I was stationed in Germany. Not that he told us any great stories or anything, but it was like stepping into history. Today I had a couple of minutes at lunch and I looked up Manfred Rommel on the internet. I came across some quotes attributed to his dad, the Desert Fox. Pretty good.

- "Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, and brains save both."

- "Mortal danger is an effective antidote for fixed ideas."

- "The best form of welfare for the troops is first-rate training."

- "Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning."

- "In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine."

- "Courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility."

- "In the absence of orders, find something and kill it."

- Referring to Italians: "Good troops, bad officers. But remember that without them we wouldn't have civilization."

- "Training errors are recorded on paper. Tactical errors are etched in stone."

- "There is one unalterable difference between a soldier and a civilian: the civilian never does more than he is paid to do."

- "Men are basically smart or dumb and lazy or ambitious. The dumb and ambitious ones are dangerous and I get rid of them. The dumb and lazy ones I give mundane duties. The smart ambitious ones I put on my staff. The smart and lazy ones I make my commanders."

- "Be an example to your men, in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself, and let the troops see that you don't in your endurance of fatigue and privation. Always be tactful and well-mannered and teach your subordinates to do the same. Avoid excessive sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide."

- "I know I haven't offered you much; sand, heat, scorpions ... but we've shared them together. One more last push, and it is Cairo. And if we fail, ... well, we tried, ... together"*