John Paul Jones Quotes

• I have not yet begun to fight!

  John Paul Jones

  Memorial Day, Military, War

  Quoted in John Henry Sherburne, Life and Character of the Chevalier John Paul Jones (1825).

  50 Copy quote

• 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

  63 Copy quote

• He who will not risk cannot win.

  John Paul Jones

  Winning, Risk, Inexorable

  40 Copy quote

• If fear is cultivated it will become stronger, if faith is cultivated it will achieve mastery.

  John Paul Jones

  Faith, Stronger, Mastery

  70 Copy quote

• It is by no means enough that an officer should be capable. . . . He should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor. . . . No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention, even if the reward be only one word of approval. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate.

  John Paul Jones

  Mean, Gentleman, Honor

  56 Copy quote

• It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win.

  John Paul Jones

  Winning, Law, Risk

  "Should young people take risks while volunteering?" by Sally Higham, www.theguardian.com. July 17, 2013.

  34 Copy quote

• It is true that I must run a great risk; no gallant action was ever accomplished without danger.

  John Paul Jones

  Running, Risk, Action

  24 Copy quote

• I would lay down my life for America but I cannot trifle with my Honor.

  John Paul Jones

  America, Honor, Trifles

  "Rare letters from father of US Navy surface in South Carolina". www.foxnews.com. July 4, 2013.

  13 Copy quote

• An honorable Peace is and always was my first wish! I can take no delight in the effusion of human Blood; but, if this War should continue, I wish to have the most active part in it.

  John Paul Jones

  War, Blood, Wish

  Robert Morris Letter Book, Rosenbach Collection No. 33, 1943.

  17 Copy quote

• You understand why some animals eat their young.

  John Paul Jones

  Animal, Chemistry, Young

  16 Copy quote

• I may sink, but I'll be damned if I strike!

  John Paul Jones

  Military, May, Strikes

  Said during the Battle of Flamborough Head, September 23, 1779.

  17 Copy quote

• Whoever can surprise well must conquer.

  John Paul Jones

  Uprising, World War 2, Surprise

  25 Copy quote

• ...without a Respectable Navy, Alas America!

  John Paul Jones

  America, Navy, Naval

  John Paul Jones, Benjamin Walker (1851). “Life of Rear-Admiral John Paul Jones : Chevalier of the Military Order of Merit, and of the Russian Order of St. Anne... : Compiled from His Original Journals and Correspondence : Including an Account of His Services in the American Revolution and in the War Between the Russians and Turks in the Black Sea”, p.44

  9 Copy quote

• Nothing exciting ever happens to me.

  John Paul Jones

  Exciting, Happens

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• Where men of fine feeling are concerned there is seldom misunderstanding.

  John Paul Jones

  Men, Feelings, Fine

  Letter from Jones to the Marquis de Lafayette, May 01, 1779.

  15 Copy quote

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