Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, but brains saves both.”
― Erwin Rommel
“Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning. ”
― Erwin Rommel, Rommel: In His Own Words
“In a man-to-man fight, the winner is he who has one more round in his magazine.”
― Erwin Rommel
“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.”
― Erwin Rommel
“No plan survives contact with the enemy”
― Erwin Rommel
“I would rather be the hammer than the anvil”
― Erwin Rommel
“Mortal danger is an effective antidote for fixed ideas.”
― Erwin Rommel
"When there's no clear option, it's better to do nothing.”
― Erwin Rommel
“Winning the men's confidence requires much of a commander. He must exercise care and caution, look after his men, live under the same hardships, and—above all— apply self discipline. But once he has their confidence, his men will follow him through hell and high water.”
― Erwin Rommel, Attacks
“But courage which goes against military expediency is stupidity, or, if it is insisted upon by a commander, irresponsibility.”
― Erwin Rommel, The Rommel Papers
“Loose lips sink ships.”
― Erwin Rommel, Rommel and His Art of War
“It is my experience that bold decisions give the best promise of success. But one must differentiate between [strategic] and tactical boldness and a military gamble. A bold operation is one in which success is not a certainty but which in case of failure leaves one with sufficient forces in hand to cope with whatever situation may arise. A gamble, on the other hand, is an operation which can lead either to victory or to the complete destruction of one's force. Situations can arise where even gamble may be justified - as, for instance, when in the normal course of events defeat is merely a matter of time, when the gaining of time is therefore pointless and the only chance lies in an operation of great risk.”
― Erwin Rommel
“Sturm, Swung, Wucht”
― Erwin Rommel
“The organization of supplies, the command of men, anything in any way constructive requires more than intellect; it requires energy and drive and an unrelenting will to serve the cause, regardless of one's personal interests.”
― Erwin Rommel, The Rommel Papers
“It is often possible to decide the issue of a battle merely by making an unexpected shift of one's main weight.”
― Erwin Rommel, The Rommel Papers
“Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning”
― Erwin Rommel
隆美爾隻是生在那個時代，那個體製下，如果生在當時的盟國方或生在現在，也是人傑。在那個罪惡的體製下，要麽同流合汙，要麽被那個體製吞沒，他是後者。他一直沒有參加納粹黨，他不是納粹黨員。納粹德國後來實際上麵對整個世界的抵抗，所以，個人再傑出，也不可能力挽狂瀾。他後來一直試圖勸希特勒“有限投降”，打開西線，和英法和解，因為他擔心communist的蘇聯會入侵德國。他的擔心是完全正確的，他死後半年，德國就被瓜分，直到1989，代價非常大。
隆美爾最讓我感動的是，無論在任何時候任何事情上，他都沒有失去人性的光輝。
他剛到北非的時候，雖然絕對不敢自比腓特烈二世，卻的確曾經很有漢尼拔的豪情，而漢尼拔，腓特烈二世，都是君主論的粉絲。
這是維基給的名人對該書的“review”：
這本書曾被視為世界上最具影響力與暢銷的十大名著之一，與《聖經》、《資本論》等書並列。本書是西方許多君主、領袖學習統治術的經典。相傳本書是
“英王查理一世愛不釋手；
英國護國公克倫威爾珍藏著它的手稿影本；
法王亨利四世被刺殺時，人們發現他貼身帶的，竟然是一部染血的《君主論》；
普魯士腓特烈大帝----就是腓特烈二世，把它作為自己決策的依據；
路易十四，這位赫赫有名的法國君主，每晚必溫習此書，並說：“不讀此書不能高枕而眠”；
拿破侖對《君主論》也百讀不厭，勝利的聯軍在清掃滑鐵盧戰場時，從繳獲的拿破侖的禦車中，發現了一本他寫滿批注的《君主論》；
希特勒放在床邊經常從中汲取力量；
墨索裏尼稱之為政治家的指南……”。
墨索裏尼就算了，希特勒的豬隊友......哦，對了，過去人個子都不高，希特勒最多174吧，丘吉爾隻有160，羅斯福坐在輪椅上，隻有戴高樂是大個子，出奇得高，而法國人平均是不高的。
