American Military Quotes:

Would that it were so! ... That the American military were targeting journalists.

- Ann Coulter

source: "Coulter: 'Would that it were so! ... That the American military were targeting journalists.'" by Oliver Willis, www.mediamatters.org. February 10, 2005.

topic: Military, Journalist, American Military

Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantially unchanged, until some other adversary could be invented. Anything else would be an unacceptable shock to the American economy.

- George F. Kennan

source: Foreword to 'The Pathology of Power' by Norman Cousins in 1987. "At a Century's Ending: Reflections 1982-1995". Book by George F. Kennan, p. 118, 1996.

topic: Military, Ocean, Government, Adversaries, Ussr

I submit that those who run the American military at the top, and those whose boots are on the ground and who run the machinery and equipment, are sending a signal: You asked us to do something. Give us some time and we will solve the problems and we will do it.

- Pete Domenici

topic: Running, Military, Giving, American Military

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!

- Maya Angelou

topic: Veterans Day, Women, Hero, Fireman, Women Equality

No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

- George S. Patton

source: Attributed in Patton (motion picture) (1970). This is sometimes said to have been uttered in a speech by Patton to the Sixth Armored Division of the Third Army, 31 May 1944, but documentation is lacking. The following poem appeared in the Bureau of Aeronautics Navy Department News Letter, 1 Jan. 1943: "The greatest duty of a sailor / Is duty from worries and cares, / Not to die for his country, / Make our enemies die for theirs!"

topic: Country, Military, War, Soldiers At War, War Movie

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.

- George S. Patton

topic: Courage, Veterans Day, Fear, Inspirational Courage, Military General

**** the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!

- David Farragut

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

topic: War, Civil War, Speed, Military History, Military Soldier

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

- Mark Twain

topic: Inspirational, Motivational, Positive, Inspirational Football, Marathon Runners

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

- George Washington

topic: Inspirational, Leadership, Motivation, Soldiers At War, Inspirational Military

In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.

- Mark Twain

topic: Thank You, Memorial Day, Courage, Independence Day Patriotic, Inspirational Patriotic

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.

- Patrick Henry

topic: Inspirational, Courage, Veterans Day, Soldiers At War, Forged

Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes! Then fire low!

- Israel Putnam

topic: Eye, Fire, Revolution, Military Soldier, Bunkers

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

topic: Mean, Army, Hands, Military General, Military Leader

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.

- John Stuart Mill

source: "The Contest in America", Fraser's Magazine, February 1862.

topic: War, Patriotic, Thinking, Soldiers At War, Ugly Things

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.

- Billy Graham

topic: Motivational, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Inspirational Courage, Memorial Day Heroes

Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!

- William H. Prescott

topic: Memorial Day, Military, War, Military Soldier, Bunkers

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

topic: Inspirational, Life, Basketball, Marathon Runners, Marathon Running

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

- Zell Miller

source: 2004 Republican National Convention Address, delivered 1 September 2004, Madison Square Garden, New York

topic: Veterans Day, Military, Army, Joining The Army, Joining The Military

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

- John F. Kennedy

source: Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961

topic: Inspirational, Memorial Day, Freedom, Inaugural Speech, Independence And Freedom

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

- Robert H. Schuller

topic: Inspirational, Life, Truth, Soldiers At War, Inspirational Military

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

source: Letter to Le Ray de Chaumont, 16 Nov. 1778

topic: Life, Fear, Military, American Revolution, Military Aviation

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

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

source: First Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1953

topic: Success, Witty, Atheist, Inspirational Military, Memorial Day Poems

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.

- Nathan Hale

source: Before being executed as a spy by the British, 22 September 1776, in Henry Phelps Johnston 'Nathan Hale, 1776' (1914) ch. 7.

topic: Inspirational, Life, Country, Independence Day Patriotic, American Revolution

It is not the critic who counts...The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena...

- Theodore Roosevelt

source: Address at the Sorbonne, Paris, 23 Apr. 1910. Richard M. Nixon quoted this passage in his address to the nation announcing his decision to resign the presidency, 8 Aug. 1974. See Theodore Roosevelt 1; Theodore Roosevelt 2; Theodore Roosevelt 5

topic: Men, Arena, Credit, Strong Man, Putting Yourself Out There

Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.

- Chester W. Nimitz

topic: Military, Men, Common, Military Man, Military Soldier

American soldiers in battle don't fight for what some president says on T.V., they don't fight for mom, apple pie, the American flag...they fight for one another.

- Hal Moore

topic: Mom, Army, Fighting, Military Soldier, American Soldier

Don't forget, incoming fire has the right of way.

- Clint Smith

topic: Military, Gun, Fire, Soldiers At War, Military Soldier

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

topic: Military, War, People, Memorial Day Soldiers, Military Memorial

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

- John F. Kennedy

topic: Inspirational, Thank You, Thanksgiving, I Am Thankful, Inspirational Gratitude

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

- Richard Grenier

topic: Strength, Wisdom, Veterans Day, Inspirational Good Night, Military Force

My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

- John F. Kennedy

source: Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961

topic: Inspirational, Inspiring, Country, Inaugural Speech, Independence Day Patriotic

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.

- Elmer Davis

topic: Veterans Day, Courage, Memories, India Independence Day, Independence Day

The willingness of America's veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude.

- Jeff Miller

topic: Thanksgiving, Country, Veterans Day, Memorial Day Messages, Memorial Day Poems

A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

- John Stuart Mill

topic: Freedom, War, Fighting, Soldiers At War, Ugly Things

We have met the enemy and they are ours.

- Oliver Hazard Perry

source: 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

topic: Military, Enemy, Mets, Military History, Military Soldier

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

- Desmond Tutu

topic: Memorial Day, Peace, Freedom, Soldiers At War, Individual Liberty

Never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

- Winston Churchill

topic: Courage, Yield, Giving, Special Forces, Overwhelming Force

Get the hell out of my way!

- Ayn Rand

source: Ayn Rand (2011). “Ayn Rand Novel Collection”, p.2340, Penguin

topic: Strength, Courage, Philosophy, Inspirational Strength, Korean War

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

- Norman Schwarzkopf

topic: Jobs, Military, Forgiving, Military General, Military Memorial

War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.

- William Tecumseh Sherman

source: "The Civil War Generation". Book by Norman K. Risjord, p. 143, 2002.

topic: Death, Military, War, Soldiers At War, War Stories

War's very object is victory, not prolonged indecision. In war there is no substitute for victory.

- Douglas MacArthur

topic: War, Victory, Indecision, Soldiers At War, Military Soldier

The most persistent sound which reverberates through man's history is the beating of war drums.

- Arthur Koestler

topic: Military, War, Men, Soldiers At War, War Veteran

Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.

- Ernest Hemingway

source: Ernest Hemingway, William Kozlenko (1942). “Men at War: The Best War Stories of All Time”, New York : Crown Publishers

topic: Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Military, Soldiers At War, Military Force

Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!

- William Shakespeare

source: 'Julius Caesar' (1599) act 3, sc. 1, l. 270

topic: Dog, Military, War, Soldiers At War, Havoc

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.

- Gilbert K. Chesterton

source: Gilbert K. Chesterton (2013). “The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton”, p.69, Simon and Schuster

topic: Courage, Veterans Day, Strong, Strong Desire, Be Courageous

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.

- Winston Churchill

source: Speech at Harrow School, Harrow, England, 29 Oct. 1941

topic: Life, Inspiring, Graduation, Just Give Up, Just Stay Strong

So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

- Theodore Roosevelt

topic: Humor, Soul, Victory, Inspiration And Motivation, Special Operations

No self-respecting feminist could argue with the claim that the novel is more likely to accept existing power structures than not. But there's a vast difference, surely, between Dickens saying Indians should be exterminated and a Dave Eggers writing eloquently about the NSA, but not being as outspoken on American military power abroad.

- Kamila Shamsie

source: Source: www.guernicamag.com

topic: Dickens, American Military