Navy Quotes

• A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Military, War, Naval

  Theodore Roosevelt (1916). “Fear God and Take Your Own Part”, New York : George H. Doran

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• There are no extraordinary men... just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with.

  William Halsey

  Military, Men, History

  77 Copy quote

• The Navy is much more than a job; much more than service to country. It is a way of life. It gets in your blood.

  Albert F. Pratt

  Country, Jobs, Blood

  52 Copy quote

• 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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  The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Military, Army, Forget

  Duff Gilfond, Calvin Coolidge (1932). “The Rise of Saint Calvin: Merry Sidelights on the Career of Mr. Coolidge”

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• When asked what I am most proud of, I stick out my chest, hold my head high and state proudly, 'I served in the United States Navy!'

  John F. Kennedy

  United States, Proud, Sticks

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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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• When I lost my rifle, the Army charged me 85 dollars. That is why in the Navy the Captain goes down with the ship.

  Dick Gregory

  Funny, Military, Responsibility

  33 Copy quote

• There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.

  Joseph Conrad

  Life, Ocean, Army

  Joseph Conrad (1905). “Lord Jim”, p.7, McClure, Phillips & Company

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• Whoever commands the sea, commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.

  Walter Raleigh

  Sea, World, Riches

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• Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Leadership, Art, Business

  Eisenhower, Dwight D. (1960). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954”, p.477, Best Books on

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• We few. We happy few. We band of brothers, for he today That sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother.

  William Shakespeare

  Brother, Business, Military

  'Henry V' (1599) act 4, sc. 3, l. 35

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• It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy so that it will not be fought on U.S. soil.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Military, War, Enemy

  90 Copy quote

• Without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive.

  George Washington

  Submarines, Force, Naval

  George Washington, John Clement Fitzpatrick, David Maydole Matteson (1782). “The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799”, p.341

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  There's a storm inside of us, a burning river, a drive. You push yourself further than anyone could think possible. You are never out of the fight.

  Marcus Luttrell

  Motivational, Military, Fighting

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• And the winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

  Edward Gibbon

  Inspirational, Life, Wisdom

  "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". Volume 6,

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• It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious.

  George Washington

  Military, Night, Succeed

  George Washington (1908). “Letters and Addresses,”

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• I'm glad I was in the Navy.

  Yogi Berra

  Glad

  "Serby's Sunday Q&A With Yogi Berra". Interview with Steve Serby, nypost.com. June 26, 2008.

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• A ship is always referred to as 'she' because it costs so much to keep one in paint and powder.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Peace, War, Sea

  1959 In the NewYork Times, 24May.

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• Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board.

  Zora Neale Hurston

  Distance, Men, Wish

  Their Eyes Were Watching God ch. 1 (1937)

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• The United States Navy carries the might and the mission of America to the farthest parts of the world.

  George W. Bush

  America, United States, World

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• Don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash.

  Winston Churchill

  Funny, Army, British Navy

  In Sir Peter Gretton Former Naval Person (1968) ch. 1

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• The reason that the American Navy does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the Americans practice chaos on a daily basis.

  Karl Donitz

  War, Practice, Doe

  56 Copy quote

• Gentlemen, when the enemy is committed to a mistake we must not interrupt him too soon.

  Horatio Nelson

  Mistake, Gentleman, Enemy

  169 Copy quote

• In the Navy, there is no wrong hole. In the Marines, there is always a hole.

  George Carlin

  Marine, Holes

  4 Copy quote