Audio MP3 of Patton Speech (5 MB)

Audio MP3 of Patton Movie Theme (360 KB)

Gen. Patton Speech; 3rd Army Speech — England; 31 MAY 1944 — 6th Armored Division

Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. Men, all this stuff you’ve heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans, love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big league ball players, the toughest boxers … Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn’t give a hoot in Hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. Because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. Now, an army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. The Bilious bastards who wrote that stuff about individuality for the Saturday Evening Post, don’t know anything more about real battle than they do about fornicating. Now we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world. You know … My God, I actually pity those poor bastards we’re going up against. My God, I do. We’re not just going to shoot the bastards, we’re going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We’re going to murder those lousy Hun bastards by the bushel. Now some of you boys, I know, are wondering whether or not you’ll chicken out under fire. Don’t worry about it. I can assure you that you’ll all do your duty. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them. Spill their blood, shoot them in the belly. When you put your hand into a bunch of goo, that a moment before was your best friends face, you’ll know what to do. Now there’s another thing I want you to remember. I don’t want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We’re not holding anything, we’ll let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly, and we’re not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy. We’re going to hold onto him by the nose, and we’re going to kick him in the ass. We’re going to kick the hell out of him all the time, and we’re going to go through him like crap through a goose. Now, there’s one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home, and you may thank God for it. Thirty years from now when you’re sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you, What did you do in the great World War Two? You won’t have to say, Well, I shoveled shit in Louisiana. Alright now, you sons of bitches, you know how I feel. I will be proud to lead you wonderful guys into battle anytime, anywhere. That’s all.

This speech is for everyone in all countries. Patton’s must win attitude is timeless. That must win attitude is an absolute prerequisite for trading success or any life success for that matter.

What the Speech Means for Traders

The line that matters most for trading is not the famous opening. It is the one in the middle: “We are advancing constantly, and we’re not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy.” Patton is describing a posture of relentless forward movement with no attachment to any position except the one that keeps the momentum going. The moment the advance stalls and holding a position becomes the objective, the battle is already being lost. This is the exact description of how trend following handles a winning position. You hold onto the trend. You do not hold onto a price level, an entry point, a profit target, or a mental anchor. You hold the trend and let it run until the market tells you it is over.

The team emphasis cuts against the mythology of the lone trading genius. Patton is scathing about the individuality narrative because armies win through coordination, shared purpose, and the systematic execution of a common plan. The trader who thinks their individual genius puts them above the need for a system, for defined rules, for a process that does not depend on their daily mood and confidence, is the Saturday Evening Post writer who has not been in a real battle. The rules are the team. When everything is going wrong, the rules hold the line. Individual judgment collapses under fire. Rules do not.

The must-win attitude Patton describes is not aggression for its own sake. It is the refusal to accept defeat as a default outcome. For a trader, this translates directly: the willingness to take the next trade after a losing streak, to follow the system when the last five signals produced losses, to hold a winner past the point of comfort because the rules say to hold. None of that is easy. All of it is required. The trader who lost and laughed, who is comfortable with mediocrity, who accepts underperformance as inevitable, is the man Patton says he would not give a hoot in Hell for. The trader who approaches each session with the expectation of winning because they have a system designed to win is the soldier Patton is addressing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the Patton speech apply to trading?

Because trading is a competitive zero-sum game that requires the same psychological characteristics Patton is cultivating in his soldiers: the refusal to accept losing as normal, the commitment to a team approach over individual improvisation, and the posture of constant forward movement rather than defensive position-holding. The trader who is comfortable with chronic underperformance or who abandons a sound system at the first difficulty is the soldier who would not meet Patton’s standard.

What does “advancing constantly” mean in a trading context?

It means following the trend rather than defending a price level. A trend follower does not try to hold onto a profit by taking it early. They hold the position as long as the trend continues and exit when the rules say to exit. The attachment is to the trend, not to any fixed price point or profit target. The moment defending a position becomes the objective rather than following the market’s movement, the trader has adopted a posture that Patton would recognize as the beginning of a rout.

Why does Patton reject individualism and what does that mean for traders?

Because armies and systematic trading both require consistent execution of a defined plan rather than individual improvisation in the moment. Patton’s contempt for individualism is not a rejection of personal excellence. It is a rejection of the idea that individual inspiration can substitute for systematic preparation and execution. The trader who thinks they can outperform a sound system with their individual judgment in the heat of the moment is making the same mistake as the soldier who thinks battle is a venue for personal heroics rather than disciplined execution of the plan.

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