It is a popular idea that a man is a hero just because he was killed in action. Rather, I think, a man is frequently a fool when he gets killed." - Meaning and context.">
Speech at the Hatch Memorial Shell, Boston, Massachusetts (7 June 1945), quoted in The Last Days of Patton (1981), p. 85, by Ladislas Farago and '''The Patton Papers: 1940-1945'' (1974), p. 721, edited by Martin Blumenson.
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It is a popular idea that a man is a hero just because he was killed in action. Rather, I think, a man is frequently a fool when he gets killed.

— George S. Patton

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "It is a popular idea that a man is a hero just because he was killed in action. Rather, I think, a man is frequently a fool when he gets killed." in the context of "Speech at the Hatch Memorial Shell, Boston, Massachusetts (7 June 1945), quoted in The Last Days of Patton (1981), p. 85, by Ladislas Farago and '''The Patton Papers: 1940-1945'' (1974), p. 721, edited by Martin Blumenson." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "George S. Patton" (Quotes, 1945) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
George S. Patton

About George S. Patton

General George Smith Patton, Jr. (11 November 1885 – 21 December 1945) was a senior officer of the United States Army, who commanded the U.S. Seventh Army in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of World War II, but is best known for his leadership of the U.S. Third Army in France and Germany following the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. He was known in his time as "America's Fightingest General".