The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
David Halberstam
Top 10 Best Quotes
“Fear was the terrible secret of the battlefiled and could afflict the brave as well as the timid. Worse it was contagious, and could destroy a unit before a battle even began. Because of that, commanders were first and foremost in the fear suppression business.”
“Gen. Matthew Ridgeway "intended not to impose his will on his men, but to allow the men under him to find something in themselves that would make them more confident, more purposeful fighting men. It was their confidence in themselves that would make them fight well, he believed, not so much their belief in him. His job was to keep them to find that quality in themselves.”
“Fear was the terrible secret of the battlefield and could afflict the brave as well as the timid. Worse it was contagious, and could destroy a unit before a battle even began. Because of that, commanders were first and foremost in the fear suppression business.”
“What looked safe was not safe. What looked hard and unsafe was probably safer. Anyway, safe was somewhere else in the world.”
“This was the mark of an uncommon soldier, someone whose courage away from the battlefield was the same as that on it.”
“Most commanders wanted as many good sources of information as possible. MacArthur was focused on limiting and controlling his sources of intelligence.”
“The truth posed a great dilemma for a man who always had to be right, and yet, for all his grandeur, was often wrong.”
“The author describes megalomania as seen in Chairman Mao by saying that what he was familiar with, he was really familiar with. This zeal moved the megalomaniac with a complete lack of appreciation for what he DID NOT know.”
“Sometimes the best virtue learned on the battlefield is modesty.”
“Peterson thought it an unusual friendship, one only the Army could forge.”
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Book Keywords:
development, education, reading, adversity, opposites, megalomania, pride, risk, korean-war-fear, authority, hubris, bureaucracy, leadership, courage, safety, motivation, narrowmindedness, teamwork, self-actualization, arrogance, opposition, fear, individualism, humility, open-mindedness, korean-war, self-sacrifice, ego, honesty, information, discretion, caution
