United States Military Quotes

• To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

  George Washington

  Inspirational, Leadership, Motivation

  1790 First Annual Address, 8 Jan.

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• The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

  Desmond Tutu

  Memorial Day, Peace, Freedom

  67 Copy quote

• A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Success, Witty, Memorial Day

  First Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1953

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  I am a Soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.

  George S. Patton

  Motivational, Military, War

  248 Copy quote

• The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.

  George Washington

  Veterans Day, Military, War

  67 Copy quote

• I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Peace, War, Hate

  Speech in Ottawa on January 10, 1946. "Eisenhower Speaks: Dwight D. Eisenhower in His Messages and Speeches". Book edited by Rudolph L. Treuenfels, 1948.

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  The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!

  Eleanor Roosevelt

  Thank You, Military, Marine

  151 Copy quote

• The deadliest weapon in the world is a MARINE and his rifle!

  John J. Pershing

  Military, Marine, Rifles

  253 Copy quote

• Military power wins battles, but spiritual power wins wars.

  George C. Marshall

  Spiritual, Military, War

  "A Toolbox for Humanity: More Than 9000 Years of Thought". Book by Lloyd Albert Johnson, 2004.

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• They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.

  Thomas Holcomb

  Military, Marine, Atmosphere

  56 Copy quote

• **** the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!

  David Farragut

  War, Military, Marine

  At the battle of Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864 ('torpedoes' were mines). Capt. A. T. Mahan 'Admiral Farragut' (1892) ch. 10

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• We have met the enemy and they are ours.

  Oliver Hazard Perry

  Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Military

  Message toWilliam Henry Harrison, 10 Sept. 1813. The source is Perry's dispatch from the U.S. brig Niagara to General Harrison, announcing that victory at the Battle of Lake Erie was secure. The dispatch was written in pencil on the back of an old letter; it is quoted in Robert B. McAfee, History of the LateWar in theWestern Country (1816). SeeWalt Kelly 2; Walt Kelly 3

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• A ship without Marines is like a garment without buttons.

  David Dixon Porter

  Military, Marine, Buttons

  51 Copy quote

• The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years.

  James Forrestal

  Military, War, Mean

  94 Copy quote

• The bended knee is not a tradition of our Corps.

  Alexander Vandegrift

  Military, Marine, Usmc

  56 Copy quote

• Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.

  Douglas MacArthur

  Veterans Day, Peace, Military

  Address to joint meeting of Congress, 19 Apr. 1951

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• There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change. It is to use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wound, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time.

  George S. Patton

  Military, Mean, Army

  "Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder". Book by Michael Savage. Chapter 1: "More Patton, Less Patent Leather", p. 4, 2005.

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• It is God's job to forgive Osama Bin Laden. It is our job to arrange a face to face meeting.

  Norman Schwarzkopf

  Jobs, Military, Forgiving

  29 Copy quote

• The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.

  Robert H. Schuller

  Inspirational, Life, Truth

  117 Copy quote

• The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.

  Ulysses S. Grant

  Art, Peace, Military

  Statement to John Hill Brinton at the start of his Tennessee River Campaign, early 1862. "Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton, Major and Surgeon U.S.V., 1861-1865". Book by John H. Brinton, p. 239, 1914.

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• I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.

  John F. Kennedy

  Military, Pride, Men

  Kennedy, John F. (1964). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963”, p.620, Best Books on

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• My solution to the problem would be to tell [the North Vietnamese Communists] frankly that they've got to draw in their horns and stop their aggression or we're going to bomb them into the Stone Age. And we would shove them back into the Stone Age with Air power or Naval power - not with ground forces.

  Curtis LeMay

  Military, Age, Vietnam

  "Mission With LeMay: My Story". Book by Curtis E LeMay and MacKinlay Kantor, p. 565, 1965.

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• I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way.

  John Paul Jones

  Life, Fear, Military

  Letter to Le Ray de Chaumont, 16 Nov. 1778

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• Goddamn it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!

  Henry Pierson Crowe

  Military, Heart, Marine

  12 Copy quote

• Immigrants bring to America the values of faith in God, love of family, hard work and self reliance - the values that made us a great nation to begin with. We've all seen those values in action, through the service and sacrifice of more than 35,000 foreign-born men and women currently on active duty in the United States military.

  George W. Bush

  Military, Hard Work, Humor

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