It's said great adversity breeds great men and women, and sometimes those great men and
women have the perfect response to the most overwhelming odds.
Today we're going to take a look at some of those great quips from throughout history
in this episode of The Infographics Show- Most Badass Quotes in History
5.
“There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.”
- British Royal Fleet Vice-Admiral David Beatty, 1916
The battle of Jutland in World War I was the greatest naval battle of the conflict, and
the only time that Germany and Britain's full force of battleships would square off against
one another in an all-out brawl for survival.
Though Britain remained the world's preeminent naval power, Germany was a close competitor-
but even their newly minted fleet wasn't quite enough to take on the British on equal footing,
and the Germans knew it.
Seeking to lure out Britain's fleet into a surprise and decisive engagement, the Germans
dispatched a portion of their High Seas fleet into the North Sea, while keeping their main
fleet in reserve.
When the British discovered a group of German battlecruisers they assumed were trying to
break out of the North Sea to interdict allied shipping in the Atlantic, the bulk of the
British fleet gave pursuit.
The German battlecruisers turned tail and ran, seemingly fleeing from the engagement-
only to run straight for the waiting covering fire of the main German fleet.
Despite an initial and overwhelming advantage, two of Vice-Admiral David Beatty's battlecruisers
were almost immediately struck, disabled, and very quickly sunk, while the British fleet
failed to land any significant hits on enemy ships.
Dismayed at the loss of over two thousand men in a matter of minutes and the ineffectiveness
of the rest of his fleet against the German ships, Admiral Beatty nonetheless embodied
the British spirit of keeping a stiff upper lip in the face of disaster by simply commenting,
“There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.”
The Battle of Jutland would end up costing the British nearly twice as many casualties
as the Germans, but was nonetheless a tactical victory which prevented the German fleet from
breaking out of the North Sea and threatening Britain's vulnerable and critical supply lines.
For the rest of the war the German fleet would see little action, mostly remaining at port
for fear of destruction at the hands of the superior British fleet.
4.
“We will shoot twice and go home.”
- Swiss militiaman, pre-WWI
Prior to the outbreak of hostilities that would lead to the first world war, the German
Kaiser was invited by the Swiss government for a diplomatic visit.
During said visit the Swiss brought the Kaiser to observe military maneuvers, because in
the first half of the 20th century nothing got a German more excited than watching a
bunch of soldiers practice war.
The Kaiser had a high respect for neutral Switzerland- a neutrality enforced not just
by the incredibly difficult terrain that any invading army would face, but by the fact
that every Swiss man was known to own a rifle and receive military training.
Though their standing military was small in number, the Swiss could count on a huge civilian
militia that featured very skilled sharpshooters.
Invading Switzerland would be a costly affair for even the most powerful armies in Europe-
something that the Kaiser may have briefly forgotten as during the maneuvers he commented
on the fine performance of the men to a Swiss militiaman, but then asked, “You are 500,000
and you shoot well, but if we attack with 1,000,000 men what will you do?”
The Swiss militiaman shrugged his shoulders and simply commented, “We will shoot twice
and go home.”
3.
“We have been looking for the enemy for some time now.
We've finally found him.
We're surrounded.
That simplifies things.”
- US Marine Corps Colonel Chesty Puller, 1950
With North Korean forces rocked back on their heels by the brutal assault of UN forces led
by the US, China's Mao Zedong quickly mobilized the Chinese army and ordered it into North
Korea to fight off the UN spearhead.
Warned by military intelligence that the Chinese had amassed a force of 120,000 and were staging
for a counterattack, the US responded by sending the US X (Tenth) Corps to scout out the Chinese
force and engage it.
Trapped and encircled by 120,000 Chinese infantry in the Chosin Reservoir, US and UN Forces
made up of South Korean and British soldiers fought off the Chinese attempt to destroy
the beleaguered defenders.
Surrounded by overwhelming numbers US Marine Corps Colonel Chesty Puller prepared his men
for battle by telling them simply, “We have been looking for the enemy for some time now.
We've finally found him.
We're surrounded.
That simplifies things.”
The UN forced would go on to successfully break free of the Chinese encirclement, inflicting
a staggering 19,000 casualties while suffering 1,000 themselves.
However the commitment of hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops to the conflict forced UN
forces to retreat, and eventually broker a cease fire that lasts to this day.
2.
“We'll start the war from right here!”
United States Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt II
The Roosevelt family has long had a monopoly on American bad-assery, starting with American
President Theodore Roosevelt, who was once shot in the chest during a campaign rally
and decided it would be rude to waste the good people's time who had shown up to watch
him speak, and so decided to simply continue.
And when that's your father, you know from birth that you have one hell of a legacy to
live up to.
Yet Theodore Roosevelt Jr., eldest son of the late American president, proved in spades
that he was equal to his legendary father.
Wounded during World War I, and at the ripe old age of 56 with a heart condition he kept
a secret from the military and arthritis that forced him to use a cane, Roosevelt was nonetheless
adamant about being on the first wave of landings at D-Day.
He repeatedly asked to be allowed to join the first assault wave, though his superiors
continually shot his request down citing no need for a General to be a part of the initial
wave.
After a handwritten petition to Major General Raymond Barton, in which he said that he believed
it would steady the men to see him with them, his request was finally approved, though none
expected he would come back alive.
One of the first men off his landing craft and equipped with nothing more than a pistol
and a walking cane, Roosevelt was quickly informed that his craft had drifted south
of the objective by over a mile.
Ordering his men to stay put, Roosevelt then personally reconnoitered the area around him
on foot, and returned to tell his men that rather than try to fight their way to their
assigned positions, instead, “We'll start the war from right here!”.
Roosevelt's impromptu plan worked with great success, securing a beachhead for follow-on
forces and pushing the Germans back far enough to let incoming US and British forces safely
land.
Ignoring incoming enemy fire and personally greeting each arriving landing craft, Roosevelt
met the men being offloaded with anecdotes about his famous father, poetry, and even
jokes to steady their nerves and calm them.
Immune to the machine gun fire and bombs of the Nazis, and with a beachhead successfully
established and Allied forces pouring in to liberate Europe, Teddy Roosevelt Jr. decided
his job was done, and allowed death to finally take him by suffering a heart attack a month
after the D-Day landings.
Years after the war, General of the Army Omar Nelson Bradley was asked what the most heroic
action he had ever seen in combat was, to which he replied, “Ted Roosevelt on Utah
beach.”
1.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been
shot; but it takes more than that to kill a bull moose.”
US President Theodore Roosevelt, 1912.
At number one spot is the original American bad ass, US President Theodore Roosevelt.
Campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 14th, 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was about to
enter an auditorium when the mentally deranged John Schrank shot him in the chest.
The bullet slowed by Roosevelt's folded up speech notes, it had still managed to lodge
itself in his chest,-which was very inconveniently ruining a fine new suit with blood, in Roosevelt's
opinion.
As the angry mob wrestled the shooter to the ground, Roosevelt called out and ordered the
mob not to hurt Schrank and allow the police to arrest him, and then despite protests that
he should rush to the hospital, Roosevelt decided he'd simply give his speech as planned
instead.
Roosevelt began his speech by saying, “Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible.
I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more
than that to kill a bull moose.”
Then he went on to say that he would not be able to make a very long speech, but that
he would try his best.
And Roosevelt's best apparently was an incredible 84 minute speech, during which he declared
the need for America to stand up for the poor working man, protect labor unions, and break
up big monopolies.
What's the most bad ass quote you've ever heard of?
Want to hear more of history's most bad ass quotes?
Also, make sure you check out our other video Why Living On A Submarine Sucks.
As always, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe.
See you next time!