The Lion's Gate Quotes

“Now it’s 1967. Nasser and the Arabs are saying to themselves: The Jews have beaten us in Round One and Round Two, but we will wipe them out for good in Round Three.”
― Steven Pressfield, The Lion's Gate: On the Front Lines of the Six Day War

“Improvisation is not a wild scramble at the last minute. You are not pulling plans out of thin air. Improvisation is the payoff of scrupulous preparation and drill.”
― Steven Pressfield, The Lion's Gate: On the Front Lines of the Six Day War

“A nation is born in blood and purchases with blood its right to stand in the ranks with other nations.”
― Steven Pressfield, The Lion's Gate: On the Front Lines of the Six Day War

“Who are these pilots anyway? They get the best of everything; their demands eat up the defense budget. Can we count on them? What do they do except wear Ray-Bans and eat steaks and go home each night to sleep on clean sheets?”
― Steven Pressfield, The Lion's Gate: On the Front Lines of the Six Day War

“Sharon was a realist. He recognized, as did Ben-Gurion and Dayan, that the Arabs had as legitimate a claim to this land as we did, and that they possessed pride and courage and anger, against which no rejoinder existed except the sword.”
― Steven Pressfield, The Lion's Gate: On the Front Lines of the Six Day War

“The proper question to ask is not “How can Israel be preserved at any cost?” but “How can Israel be preserved into the future?” To this question at this time, no reply is possible except by the sword. The enemy must be dealt such a blow that he will be deterred from striking again, or threatening to strike, for as long as possible. Therefore our objective cannot be mere seizure of land or the swapping of territories of dubious value. It must be the destruction of the Egyptian Army, not in part and not in detail, but totally and in a straight-up fight—tank against tank, plane against plane, man against man.”
― Steven Pressfield, The Lion's Gate: On the Front Lines of the Six Day War

“A Jew asks over and over, “What is fair? What is just? Who is a good man, and why?”
― Steven Pressfield, The Lion's Gate: On the Front Lines of the Six Day War

“Egyptians cannot believe Israelis are all”
― Steven Pressfield, The Lion's Gate: On the Front Lines of the Six Day War