Chester W. Nimitz Quotes

• Leadership consists of picking good men and helping them do their best.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Men, Good Man, Helping

  103 Copy quote

• God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Hope, Courage, Giving Up

  "The Armed Forces Prayer Book". Book edited by Daniel Alfred Poling, 1951.

  158 Copy quote

• They fought together as brothers in arms; they died together and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Brother, War, Sleep

  Chester W. Nimitz's statement broadcast to the United States and the Pacific Fleet after ceremonies in Tokyo Bay accepting the official surrender of Japan, September 2, 1945.

  146 Copy quote

• When you're in command, command.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Command

  98 Copy quote

• If you're not making waves, you're not under weigh.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Wave, Ifs

  77 Copy quote

• 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.

  81 Copy quote

• Luck can be attributed to a well-conceived plan carried out by a well-trained and indoctrinated task group.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Luck, Groups, Tasks

  80 Copy quote

• Some of the best advice I've had comes from junior officers and enlisted men.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Men, Advice, Juniors

  69 Copy quote

• When I assumed command of the Pacific Fleet in 31 December, 1941; our submarines were already operating against the enemy, the only units of the Fleet that could come to grips with the Japanese for months to come. It was to the Submarine Force that I looked to carry the load until our great industrial activity could produce the weapons we so sorely needed to carry the war to the enemy. It is to the everlasting honor and glory of our submarine personnel that they never failed us in our days of peril.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  War, Honor, Enemy

  Foreword to Theodore Roscoe "United States Submarine Operations in World War II" (p. 5), June 1, 1949.

  95 Copy quote

• 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

  94 Copy quote

• Hindsight is notably cleverer than foresight.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Hindsight, Foresight

  "The Magnificent Mitscher". Book by Theodore Taylor, 1954.

  51 Copy quote

• I have just taken on a great responsibility. I will do my utmost to meet it.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Military, Taken, Responsibility

  67 Copy quote

• The U.S.'s major strength factor and weapon is its economy. If you cripple it, you cripple the military.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Military, Navy, Weapons

  "ARMED FORCES: According to Plan", content.time.com. March 13, 1950.

  69 Copy quote

• By their victory, the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions and other units of the Fifth Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Country, Military, Marine

  Chester W. Nimitz's statement after the Battle of Iwo Jima, circa March - May 1945.

  97 Copy quote

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

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Military, War, Marine

  62 Copy quote

• The best that science can devise and that naval organization can provide must be regarded only as an aid, and never as a substitute for good seamanship.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Military, Organization, Sailing

  56 Copy quote

• The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Military, Japan, Views

  54 Copy quote

• Our present control of the sea is so absolute that it is sometimes taken for granted.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Military, Taken, Sea

  "Employment of Naval Forces: 'Who Commands Sea - Commands Trade'". Monthly Newsletter, March 1948.

  36 Copy quote

• I felt that it was an unnecessary loss of civilian life... We had them beaten. They hadn't enough food, they couldn't do anything.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Loss, Unnecessary, Enough

  "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth". Book by Gar Alperovitz, 1995.

  59 Copy quote

• We shall never forget that it was our submarines that held the lines against the enemy while our fleets replaced losses and repaired wounds.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Military, Loss, Enemy

  "Historic Ship Exhibits in the United States". Book by United States Naval History Division and United States Navy, 1969.

  98 Copy quote

• The enemy of our games was always Japan, and the courses were so thorough that after the start of World War II, nothing that happened in the Pacific was strange or unexpected.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  War, Japan, Games

  51 Copy quote

• Through the skill and devotion to duty of their armed forces of all branches in the Midway area our citizens can now rejoice that a momentous victory is in the making.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  Military, Skills, Victory

  Commander in Chief, Pacific Command (CINCPAC) Communique No. 3 after the Battle of Midway, June 6, 1942.

  24 Copy quote

• We must not again underestimate the Japanese.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  War, World, Underestimate

  33 Copy quote

• The battle of Iwo Island has been won. The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  War, Marine, Islands

  66 Copy quote

• No other island received as much preliminary pounding as did Iwo Jima.

  Chester W. Nimitz

  War, Iwo Jima, Islands

  17 Copy quote

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