[PW] ? Source of a Gen. Omar Bradley Quotation

[Dennis Lien]

For what it's worth (not much):

Fifty or so hits with google-in-book search (with variations such as
"speak" or "worry about" etc. as well as "talk"), virtually all of
which just describe it as "someone said" or "an old adage" etc.

The few ascribing authorship include:

Richard The Lionheart: The Mighty Crusader
by Dr David Miller - 2005 - 205 pages
Was he a true professional meeting the precept attributed to Field Marshal
Slim, 'amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics? ...


Strategy and Tactics of the Salvadoran Fmln Guerrillas: Last Battle of the 
Cold War, Blueprint... - Page 175
by Jose Angel Moroni Bracamonte, David E. Spencer - 1995 - 216 pages
As one Central American commander put it, "Amateurs study strategy, while
professionals study logistics." The FMLN followed this maxim religiously, ...

Warrener's Beastie - Page 9
by William R. Trotter - 2006 - 686 pages
Try to remember what Napoleon once said: 'Amateurs talk about tactics, but
professionals talk about logistics!' " "Yessir!" From this pervasive but 
casually ..

Quotes for the Air Force Logistician - Page 19
Attributed to a German general Amateurs worry about strategy. Dilettantes worry
about tactics. Professionals worry about logistics. ...


The Military Quotation Book: More Than 1,200 of the Best Quotations about 
War, Leadership,... - Page 84
by James Charlton - 2002 - 182 pages
TE LAWRENCE Amateurs talk of strategy; professionals talk logistics. ..



The Tsunami Tragedy: how the U.S. is responding and providing relief : 
briefing before the... - Page 14
by United States Congress. House. Committee on International Relations - 
2005 - 107 pages
He laughed, but said the more apt analogy might be that of Rommel, who 
noted that
amateurs speak tactics, professionals logistics. ...



I found only one here attributing it to Bradley:

Military Logistics and Strategic Performance
by Thomas M. Kane - 2001 - 193 pages
Amateurs study strategy, professionals study logistics', said General Omar 
Bradley.
Historians and military professionals alike recognize the truth of this ...


It's actually almost refreshing to find a quotation which no one ascribes to
Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or Winston Churchill (though I
suppose someone somewhere has probably wished it on Churchill also...).


Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries // d-lien at umn.edu


At 04:18 PM 4/11/2007, you wrote:
>"various"
>
>... also attributed specifically to Field Marshall Sir Archibald
>Percival Wavell. If so, perhaps found in GENERALS AND GENERALSHIP,
>1941?
>
>The Air Force Logistics Management Agency quote collection for the Air
>Force Logistician attributes it to "anonymous."
>
><http://www.aflma.hq.af.mil/lgj/Quotes%20for%20the%20Air%20Force%20Logistician.pdf>
>
>On 4/10/07, Thornlow, Bruce <Thornlowb at ndu.edu> wrote:
> > Hello -
> > I'm seeking the exact source for the following quotation: "Amateurs talk
> > strategy, professionals talk logistics".
> >
> > Although it has been generally attributed to Gen. Omar Bradley, I cannot
> > find the original source.