--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The other American divisions on our…" description: "\"The other American divisions on our flanks managed to pull out: We were obliged to stay and fight. Bayonets aren't much good against tanks.\" — Kurt Von..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/kurt-vonnegut-41_bayonets_the-other-american-divisions-on-our-flan_547185.jpg" --- # The other American divisions on our flanks managed to pull… ![“The other American divisions on our flanks managed to pull out: We were obliged to stay and fight. Bayonets aren't much good against tanks.” quote by Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/kurt-vonnegut-41_bayonets_the-other-american-divisions-on-our-flan_547185.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/kurt-vonnegut-41_bayonets_the-other-american-divisions-on-our-flan_547185.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ef/kurt-vonnegut-41_bayonets_the-other-american-divisions-on-our-flan_547185.jpg) > “The other American divisions on our flanks managed to pull out: We were obliged to stay and fight. Bayonets aren't much good against tanks.” [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When faced with overwhelming force, conventional tactics fail and must be abandoned. **In simple terms:** Old weapons are useless against new threats. Key Takeaway Adapt tactics to the enemy's strength. Themes war adaptation technology survival Mood grim determined Type narrative historical When to use this quote - battlefield - business competition - policy making - personal conflict Key Concepts military strategy innovation historical context Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize when a tactic is obsolete? - What alternatives exist when traditional methods fail? A Different Perspective New threats may require entirely new approaches, not just tweaks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Tanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tanks/) ## Related quotes > [A guy worth having will stay and fight for someone he loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/a-guy-worth-having-will-stay-and-fight-for-someone-he-loves/) Im Nothing > [“You realize, of course, that nothing we do will be able to keep out You-Know-Who indefinitely?” squeaked Flitwick. “But we can hold him up,”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling/you-realize-of-course-that-nothing-we-do-will-be-able-to-keep-out-you/) [J.K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling/) > [Akalis are going to be down in the dumps, they and the BJP, whether they stay together or fight separately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amarinder-singh/akalis-are-going-to-be-down-in-the-dumps-they-and-the-bjp-whether/) [Amarinder Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amarinder-singh/) > [You don't want the fight to stop on a cut or something like that. You want to finish the fight. You always have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cain-velasquez/you-don-t-want-the-fight-to-stop-on-a-cut-or-something-like-that-you/) [Cain Velasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cain-velasquez/) > [Don't stay and fight for something that's not there and for a man that doesn't deserve you or doesn't care. Let go and move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolann-centeno/don-t-stay-and-fight-for-something-that-s-not-there-and-for-a-man/) [Carolann Centeno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolann-centeno/) > [Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-diller/never-go-to-bed-mad-stay-up-and-fight/) [Phyllis Diller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-diller/) > [On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/on-the-eve-of-historic-fights-for-health-care-and-clean-energy/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [Life will knock you down, but it doesn't mean you have to stay down. get up and fight your way to success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-will-knock-you-down-but-it-doesn-t-mean-you-have-to-stay-down/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm human, and we all make mistakes. But just because you're knocked down, you don't have to stay down. Get up and fight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-ortega/i-m-human-and-we-all-make-mistakes-but-just-because-you-re-knocked/) [Brian Ortega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-ortega/) > [Please don't tell me 'It's easier said than done!' 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Everything else about us is uninteresting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-must-bloom-as-a-writer-and-i-must-bloom-as-a-painter-everything/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“People aren't supposed to look back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/people-aren-t-supposed-to-look-back/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Have a good nap, did you?” said the porter. “Yes,” said Billy. “Man,” said the porter, “you sure had a hard-on.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/have-a-good-nap-did-you-said-the-porter-yes-said-billy-man-said-the/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“I told him that if we doubted that we are demons in Hell, he should read The Mysterious Stranger, which Mark Twain wrote in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-told-him-that-if-we-doubted-that-we-are-demons-in-hell-he-should/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [ “Thomas Jefferson High School \[..\] His high school was named after a slave owner who was also one of the world’s greatest theoreticians on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/thomas-jefferson-high-school-his-high-school-was-named-after-a-slave/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“I had a certain amount of skill as a dramatist, and Dr. Goebbels wanted me to use it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-had-a-certain-amount-of-skill-as-a-dramatist-and-dr-goebbels-wanted/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/i-was-some-of-the-mud-that-got-to-sit-up-and-look-around-lucky-me/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“The town was Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.A., Earth, Solar System, Milky Way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/the-town-was-newport-rhode-island-u-s-a-earth-solar-system-milky-way/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Her face was one of a kind, a surprising variation that made observers think, Yes--that would be another very nice way for people to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/her-face-was-one-of-a-kind-a-surprising-variation-that-made-observers/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“You finally fell in love, I see,” said Salo. “Only an Earthling year ago,” said Constant. “It took us that long to realize that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/you-finally-fell-in-love-i-see-said-salo-only-an-earthling-year-ago/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“Like all Earthlings at the point of death, Mary Young sent faint reminders of herself to those who had known her. 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And if,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/someday-someday-this-crazy-world-will-have-to-end-and-our-god-will/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“They were going back to the slaughterhouse for souvenirs of the war.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/they-were-going-back-to-the-slaughterhouse-for-souvenirs-of-the-war/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“There are plenty of good reasons for fighting," I said, "but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/there-are-plenty-of-good-reasons-for-fighting-i-said-but-no-good/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) [Explore all 2,089 Kurt Vonnegut quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) ## More Bayonets quotes > [The laurels of victory are at the point of the enemy bayonets. 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They believe that, if given the right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-skousen/today-s-political-leaders-demonstrate-their-low-opinion-of-the-public/) [Mark Skousen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-skousen/) > [The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/recep-tayyip-erdogan/the-mosques-are-our-barracks-the-domes-our-helmets-the-minarets-our/) [Recep Tayyip Erdogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/recep-tayyip-erdogan/) > [Fear kills, want to kill. Fear is destructive. Love is creative energy. When you love you would like to create - you may like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/fear-kills-want-to-kill-fear-is-destructive-love-is-creative-energy/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [They opposed brute force to reason and philosophy, and battalions of foreign mercenaries to ideas. As if ideas were to be impaled on bayonets!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-sabatini/they-opposed-brute-force-to-reason-and-philosophy-and-battalions-of/) [Rafael Sabatini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-sabatini/) > [“A dull, decent people, cherishing and fortifying their dullness behind a quarter of a million bayonets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/a-dull-decent-people-cherishing-and-fortifying-their-dullness-behind/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [By push of bayonets, no firing until you see the whites in their eyes!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-agnew/by-push-of-bayonets-no-firing-until-you-see-the-whites-in-their-eyes/) Andrew Agnew > [Under divine blessing, we must rely on the bayonet when firearms cannot be furnished](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stonewall-jackson/under-divine-blessing-we-must-rely-on-the-bayonet-when-firearms/) [Stonewall Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stonewall-jackson/) > [A religious act cannot be performed with the aid of the bayonet or the bomb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/a-religious-act-cannot-be-performed-with-the-aid-of-the-bayonet-or/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Let me tell you what is coming… Your fathers and husbands, your sons and brothers, will be herded at the point of the bayonet...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-houston/let-me-tell-you-what-is-coming-your-fathers-and-husbands-your-sons/) [Sam Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-houston/) > [All bayonets are bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-gilbert/all-bayonets-are-bad/) [W. S. Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-gilbert/) Browse all 97 Bayonets quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The other American divisions on our flanks managed to pull out: We were obliged to stay and fight. 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