Badass History Quotes

One of the best quotes attributed to a world leader concerning the war against ISIS turned out to be a hoax.

Last week Fox News ran a story claiming Russian President Vladimir Putin said this of ISIS: "To forgive the terrorists is up to God but to send them to him is up to me."

Now you gotta admit that’s an awesomely cool line, but alas it seems this quote actually came from the movie Man on Fire.

So Fox got fooled.

But to be fair to Fox, isn’t Putin the kind of guy you’d expect to articulate such a marvelous, Dirty Harry-style badass quote?

Besides, history teaches us that real life people are perfectly capable of coming up with badass lines that could have been plucked straight out of a Clint Eastwood or Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.

To prove my point, here are some of my favorite tough-guy history quotes, in no particular order:

I came, I saw, I conquered.

Julius Caesar

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

Winston Churchill

This is where we hold them! This is where we fight! This is where they die!
Spartan King Leonidas

(OK this line is really  from the movie 300, but according to the ancient historians the Spartans were actually the all-time kings of badass quotes, so I'd like to believe this line is historic.)

If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.
 Genghis Khan

Yes, well there are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don't like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is, go on and bleed.

Pierre Trudeau

War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want.

William Tecumseh Sherman

May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won’t.

George S. Patton

No man ever did me so much good, or enemy so much harm, but I repaid him with interest.

Lucius Cornelius Sulla (Roman dictator)

I’m a kind person, I’m kind to everyone, but if you are unkind to me, then kindness is not what you’ll remember me for.

Al Capone

So yeah, pretty cool stuff, huh?

Remember all these lines the next time somebody tells you history is dull.