Heraclitus? John DiFusco? Tracers? Paul Whitesell? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus has received credit for the following statement which is popular in the military domain:
Out of every one-hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior and he will bring the others back.
I am skeptical because I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please explore the provenance of this quotation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: QI has found no substantive evidence that Heraclitus created this quotation.
QI believes that this quotation was derived from a monologue in the play “Tracers” which was performed Off Broadway in New York in 1984. During one scene the character Sgt. Williams, who was training U.S. soldiers for deployment in Vietnam turned to the audience and described the dangerous situation on the battlefield, and his quest to find a warrior. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
They are now eighteen and nineteen years old. Before they are twenty-one, nearly half of them will be killed or wounded. With a two-year draft, we send out amateurs to play against pros in a game for keeps.
Ten per cent should not even be here. Eighty per cent are targets; we have no time to train them to be more. Ten per cent are fighters. One in a hundred may become a warrior. I must seek him out. I must come down heavy on him. Upon him the success or failure of our present conflict lies…..
The first work-in-progress performance of “Tracers” occurred at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles in 1980. The drama was restructured and rewritten before the opening in New York in 1984.2 The text above is from “The Burns Mantle Theater Yearbook: The Best Plays of 1984-1985”. The play “Tracers” was conceived by John DiFusco and written by the original cast members3 Vincent Caristi, Richard Chaves, John DiFusco, Eric E. Emerson, Rick Gallavan, Merlin Marston and Harry Stephens with Sheldon Lettich.
The phrasing of the passage above evolved over time, and the quotation was incorrectly reassigned to Heraclitus by 2003.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
The following fragment from Heraclitus is thematically pertinent. It appeared in the Loeb Classical Library from Harvard University Press. Heraclitus placed enormous value on selected individuals, but the larger context of his statement was unspecified:4
One man, for me, is ten thousand, if he is the best.
The notion that a large fraction of soldiers function solely as targets is thematically related to a controversial thesis propounded by military historian S. L. A. Marshall. He contended in the 1947 book “Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command in Future War” that only one quarter of a group of soldiers will attack an adversary. Three quarters of the group will hesitate:5
The 25 per cent estimate stands even for well-trained and campaign-seasoned troops. I mean that 75 per cent will not fire or will not persist in firing against the enemy and his works. These men may face the danger but they will not fight.
The idea that only a small fraction of recruits will become warriors is reflected in the lyrics of the 1966 patriotic song “The Ballad of the Green Berets” with lyrics by Barry Sadler and Robin Moore. Green Berets are members of the United States Army Special Forces:6
One hundred men we’ll test today;
But only three win the Green Beret.
In January 1985 the Associated Press news service released an article about “Tracers” which included a version of the quotation:7
In Act 1, J. Kenneth Campbell as a square-jawed drill sergeant has what amounts to a boot camp soliloquy as he tries to mold six raw recruits — non entities he called maggots — into soldiers. “Eighty percent of the men are just targets, 10 percent fighters. One in 100 may become a warrior,” he says. That’s the one he’s lookin for.
In July 2003 a message in the Usenet newsgroup comp.sys.sgi.admin presented an altered version of the quotation together with an attribution to Heraclitus:8
For every one hundred men you send us, ten should not even be here. Eighty are nothing but targets. Nine of them are real fighters; we are lucky to have them, they the battle make. Ah, but the one. One of them is a warrior. And he will bring the others back.
— Heraclitus
Also, in July 2003 a message in the Usenet newsgroup us.military.army contained a slightly different version of the quotation which was credited to “Hericletus”, a misspelling of “Heraclitus”:9
Of every One-Hundred men, Ten shouldn’t even be there,
Eighty are nothing but targets,
Nine are real fighters…
We are lucky to have them…They make the battle.
Ah, but the One, One of them is a Warrior…
and He will bring the others back.
– Hericletus (circa 500 B.C.)
In 2004 a chapter in the book “On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace” included a version of the quotation:10
Dr. Paul Whitesell quotes from a letter by an ancient Greek warrior leader who was writing from the front lines to the city fathers. In it he said this:
Of every 100 men that they send me, 10 should not be here. Eighty are nothing but targets. Nine are real fighters, they the battle make. Ah, but the one, he is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.
Also, in 2004 the book “Warriors: On Living with Courage, Discipline, and Honor” included an instance:11
Even among the top performers there are a select few who rise to the top and lead the others. This is not a new problem; it has been around as long as men have engaged in battle. In 500 BC, Heraclitus identified this issue when he wrote to his commander, “Of every 100 men, 10 should not even be here, 80 are nothing more than targets. Nine of them are the real fighters. We are lucky to have them, they the battle make. Ah, but the one. One of them is a warrior and he will bring the others back.”
In 2013 “The Baltimore Sun” of Maryland printed an article containing an instance:12
The presiding official, Col. Maria Zumwalt, 48th Chemical Brigade commander, welcomed attendees then began with a quote from Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher living in 500 B.C. “He said, ‘out of every 100 men or women, 10 should not even be here, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. But one, only one of them is a warrior, and he will bring the others back she quoted.’” she quoted.
In conclusion, QI believes that this quotation began as a monologue by a character in the play “Tracers” which was performed Off Broadway in 1984. During subsequent years the phrasing evolved, and by 2003 a version was circulating with an attribution to Heraclitus. However, the linkage to Heraclitus is unsupported.
Image Notes: Picture of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece from Hans Reniers at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Michael Anderson whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Thanks to James Landau who indicated the relevance of the 1947 book by S. L.A. Marshall and other research regarding the percentage of soldiers who fire weapons. Also, thanks to Jonathan Lighter who pointed out the pertinence of the 1966 song “The Ballad of the Green Berets”.
Update History: On August 30, 2024 the 1947 and 1966 citations were added to the article.
- 1985, The Burns Mantle Theater Yearbook: The Best Plays of 1984-1985, Edited by Otis L. Guernsey Jr., Section: The Ten Best Plays, Play Title: Tracers, Start Page 165, Quote Page 171, Dodd, Mead & Company, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- Website: Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Article title: TRACERS – A Vietnam Veteran’s Odyssey, Article author: John DiFusco, Date on website: July 2, 2021, Website description of theater ensemble: “One of Los Angeles’ most adventurous companies and a pioneer in the intimate theatre movement.” (Accessed odysseytheatre.com on August 27, 2024) link ↩︎
- Website: DPS Dramatists Play Service, Play title: Tracers, Authorship: Conceived by John DiFusco and written by cast Vincent Caristi et al, Website description: “Broadway Licensing Global and its family of imprints (Broadway Licensing, Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts, and Stageworks) is the global leader in theatrical licensing and distribution.” (Accessed dramatists.com on August 27, 2024) link ↩︎
- Website: Loeb Classical Library, Edited by Jeffrey Henderson, Section: Heraclitus, Testimonia, Part 2: Doctrine (D), Quote Page 143, Publisher: Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Accessed loebclassics.com on August 7, 2024) link ↩︎
- 1951 (1947 Copyright), Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command in Future War by S. L. A. Marshall, Chapter 5: Ratio of Fire, Quote Page 50, William Morrow & Company, New York. (Internet Archive; Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1966 February 7, Berkeley Daily Gazette, The ‘Green Beret’ Cuts a Hit Record by Joan Crosby, The Ballad of the Green Berets lyrics, Quote Page 20, Column 5, Berkeley, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1985 January 22, Asheville Times, Play written and acted by Vietnam vets opens off Broadway by Associated Press (AP), Quote Page 5B, Column 2, Asheville, North Carolina. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- Usenet discussion message, Timestamp: July 15, 2003, 7:55:29 PM, Newsgroup: comp.sys.sgi.admin, From: Ali-Reza Anghaie, Subject: “Guard, reserves to be reorganized”. (Google Groups Search; Accessed March 27, 2024) link ↩︎
- Usenet discussion message, Timestamp: July 15, 2003, 8:01:01 PM, Newsgroup: us.military.army, From: Helomech, Subject: “Guard, reserves to be reorganized”. (Google Groups Search; Accessed March 27, 2024) link ↩︎
- 2004 Copyright, On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman with Loren W. Christensen, Quote Page 176, PPCT Research Publications, United States. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 2004, Warriors: On Living with Courage, Discipline, and Honor, Edited by Loren W. Christensen, Chapter 8: Training, Section: The Warrior Pyramid by Brian Willis, Start Page 180, Quote Page 184, Paladin Press, Boulder, Colorado. (Verified with scans ↩︎
- 2013 July 4, The Baltimore Sun, Section: APG News, Tech Escort unit changes leadership by Lt. Col. Carol McClelland (20th Support Command CBRNE Public Affairs), Quote Page 4, Column 1, Baltimore, Maryland. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎