Caleb Kenderdine > Caleb's Quotes

“But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.”
― George Washington

“America is too great for small dreams.”
― Ronald Reagan

“When a man begins to feel that he is the only one who can lead in this republic, he is guilty of treason to the spirit of our institutions.”
― Calvin Coolidge, The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge

“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
― George Washington

“It is better to be alone than in bad company.”
― George Washington

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
― George Washington

“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies.”
― George Washington

“Nothing can illustrate these observations more forcibly, than a recollection of the happy conjuncture of times and circumstances, under which our Republic assumed its rank among the Nations; The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epoch when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period, the researches of the human mind, after social happiness, have been carried to a great extent, the Treasures of knowledge, acquired by the labours of Philosophers, Sages and Legislatures, through a long succession of years, are laid open for our use, and their collected wisdom may be happily applied in the Establishment of our forms of Government; the free cultivation of Letters, the unbounded extension of Commerce, the progressive refinement of Manners, the growing liberality of sentiment... have had a meliorating influence on mankind and increased the blessings of Society. At this auspicious period, the United States came into existence as a Nation, and if their Citizens should not be completely free and happy, the fault will be entirely their own.

[Circular to the States, 8 June 1783 - Writings 26:484--89]”
― George Washington, Writings

“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
”
― George Washington

“the harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.”
― George Washington

“To persevere in one's duty, and be silent is the best answer to calumny”
― George Washington

“I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy.”
― George Washington

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
― Benjamin Franklin, Memoirs of the life & writings of Benjamin Franklin

“Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves”
― Abraham Lincoln, Complete Works - Volume XII

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton

“Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.”
― Herbert Hoover

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“No dumb bastard ever won a war by going out and dying for his country. He won it by making some other dumb bastard die for his country.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
― George S. Patton

“May God have mercy for my enemies because I won't.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“Better to fight for something than live for nothing.”
― George S. Patton

“Anyone in any walk of life who is content with mediocrity is untrue to himself and to American tradition.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.”
― George S. Patton

“When in doubt, ATTACK!”
― George S. Patton

“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite time in the future.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“Pressure makes diamonds”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“Every man is scared in his first battle. If he says he s not he s a liar. Some men are cowards but they fight the same as the brave men or they get the hell slammed out of them watching men fight who are just as scared as they are. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared.

Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For some it takes an hour. For some it takes days. But a real man will never let his fear of death overpower his honor his sense of duty to his country and his innate manhood.

Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom”
― General George S. Patton