Military Quotes

“Of all the branches of men in the forces there is none which shows more devotion and faces grimmer perils than the submariners.”

“You may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman, or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together- what do you get? The sum of their fears.”

“The reservist is twice the citizen.”

“I think with the Romans, that the general of today should be a soldier tomorrow if necessary.”

“The moon gives you light, and the bugles and the drums give you music, and my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans, my heart gives you love.”

“One of my favorite ideas is, never to keep an unnecessary soldier.”

“In this country we find it pays to shoot an admiral from time to time to encourage the others.”

“In this country [England] it is good to kill an admiral from time to time, to encourage the others. The reference is to Admiral John Byng, who was executed in 1757 for failing to prevent the French from taking Minorca.”

“Nothing could be smarter, more splendid, more brilliant, better drawn up than two armies. Trumpets, fifes, hautboys, drums, cannons, formed a harmony such as never been heard in hell.”

“But in this country it is necessary, now and then, to put one admiral to death in order to inspire the others to fight.”

“We must train and classify the whole of our male citizens, and make military instruction a regular part of collegiate education.”

“We will send ships and Marines as soon as possible for the protection of American life and property.”

“There is a homely old adage which runs: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." If the American nation will speak softly, and yet build and keep at a pitch of the highest training a thoroughly efficient navy, the Monroe Doctrine will go far.”

“Unjust war is to be abhorred; but woe to the nation that does not make ready to hold its own in time of need against all who would harm it! And woe thrice over to the nation in which the average man loses the fighting edge, loses the power to serve as a soldier if the day of need should arise!”

“Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.”

“We did not raise armies for glory or for conquest.”

“Commerce diminishes the spirit, both of patriotism and military defence.”

“There are some who've forgotten why we have a military. It's not to promote war, it's to be prepared for peace.”

“We are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free.”

“Spending on the military doesn't increase the deficit.”

“We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause.”

“Young Americans must never again be sent to fight and die unless we are prepared to let them win.”

“There are some who've forgotten why we have a military. It's not to promote war. It's to be prepared for peace. There's a sign over the entrance to the Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington state, and that sign says it all: 'Peace is our profession'.”

“Democracy and dependence on the military and police are incompatible.”

“We're in greater danger today than we were the day after Pearl Harbor. Our military is absolutely incapable of defending this country.”