JEFF COOPER

The will to survive is not as important as the will to prevail... the answer to criminal aggression is retaliation.

We continue to be exasperated by the view, apparently gaining momentum in certain circles, that armed robbery is okay as long as nobody gets hurt! The proper solution to armed robbery is a dead robber, on the scene.

A smart man only believes half of what he hears, a wise man knows which half.

Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.

You better be looking for another pitcher.

Remember the first rule of gunfighting... 'have a gun.'

The police cannot protect the citizen at this stage of our development, and they cannot even protect themselves in many cases. It is up to the private citizen to protect himself and his family, and this is not only acceptable, but mandatory.

Pick up a rifle and you change instantly from a subject to a citizen.

Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands.

Offering democracy to an Arab is like bringing a horse to a steakhouse.

Any man who is a man may not, in honor, submit to threats or violence. But many men who are not cowards are simply unprepared for the fact of human savagery.

The specific course you decide upon is, within certain parameters, less important than the vigor with which you execute it.

The 1911 pistol remains the service pistol of choice in the eyes of those who understand the problem. Back when we audited the FBI academy in 1947, I was told that I ought not to use my pistol in their training program because it was not fair. Maybe the first thing one should demand of his sidearm is that it be unfair.

Without the institution of slavery, civilization would never have been achieved, for no one could ever have done anything intellectual if he had to spend all his time hewing and digging and fighting.

If a felon attacks you and lives, he will reasonably conclude that he can do it again. By submitting to him, you not only imperil your own life, but you jeopardize the lives of others.

The trouble with democracy is that 50 percent of the voters are below average.

The best personal defense is an explosive counterattack.

Anyone who appears to be triggered out of watchfulness and into action by your appearance must be explained. Anyone observing you carefully must be explained. Anyone whose behavior seems to be geared to yours must be explained. If the explanation does not satisfy you, be ready to take appropriate defensive action.

It's a matter of will. If you know that you can keep your head, and that you must keep your head, you probably will keep your head.

The rifle is the queen of weapons and its effective use is one of the greatest satisfactions available to man.

It appears that the murder rate inside prisons is ten times higher than that outside prisons. It must be due to all those Kalashnikov rifles that are issued to prisoners upon their incarceration.

Your physical safety is up to you, as it really always has been.

By doing what our assailant least expects us to do, we may throw him completely off. ... what he usually least suspects is instant, violent counterattack, so the principle of aggressiveness is closely tied to threat of surprise.

The criminal does not expect his prey to fight back. May he never choose you, but, if he does, surprise him.

What you do to prevent further felonious assault, as long as the felon is still capable of action, is justified.