Inspirational Military Quotes

The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.

Gilbert K. Chesterton

Life, Hate, Passion

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Courage isn't having the strength to go on - it is going on when you don't have strength.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Strength, Moving On, Encouraging

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You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.

Bob Marley

Inspirational, Motivational, Strength

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A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.

Douglas MacArthur

Inspirational, Leadership, Confidence

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The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it.

Thucydides

Inspirational, Life, Positive

Thucydides, Sir Richard Winn Livingstone (1960). “The History of the Peloponnesian War”, Oxford University Press, USA

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I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

Nelson Mandela

Inspirational, Inspiring, Courage

Nelson Mandela (2012). “Notes to the Future: Words of Wisdom”, p.18, Simon and Schuster

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Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.

Ronald Reagan

Veterans Day, Marine, Differences

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Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Inspirational, Life, Motivational

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No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.

Douglas MacArthur

Inspirational, Freedom, Patriotic

Title of speech to the people of Japan, May 3, 1948, upon the first anniversary of the Japanese constitution. MacArthur, A Soldier Speaks (1965), p. 194. Francis T. Miller, General Douglas MacArthur, Fighter for Freedom, p. 1, 1942.

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Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

Colin Powell

Motivational, Inspiring, Leadership

Colin L. Powell, Joseph E. Persico (2010). “My American Journey”, p.52, Ballantine Books

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If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

John Quincy Adams

Inspirational, Life, Motivational

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

Robert H. Schuller

Inspirational, Life, Truth

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Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Steve Jobs

Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

Commencement Address at Stanford University, delivered 12 June 2005, Palo Alto, CA

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

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Success, Witty, Memorial Day

First Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1953

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As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.

Winston Churchill

Winning, Long, Victory

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I am a Soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.

George S. Patton

Motivational, Military, War

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I respect every soldier, from every country, who serves beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful, and America will not forget.

George W. Bush

Country, Grateful, Hard Work

2004 Republican National Convention Address, delivered 2 September 2004, Madison Square Garden, New York

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The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

Thomas Paine

Inspirational, Life, Motivational

Thomas Paine (1817). “The Political Works of Thomas Paine: In Two Volumes”

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I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.

Alexander the Great

Inspirational, Leadership, Wisdom

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

Elmer Davis

Country, Courage, Veterans Day

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On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. As a nation, let it be our pledge that when they return home, we leave no veteran behind.

Dan Lipinski

Veterans Day, Military, Home

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A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.

Joseph Campbell

Life, Inspiring, Veterans Day

Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyers (2011). “The Power of Myth”, p.151, Anchor

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Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

George S. Patton

Inspirational, Positive, Leadership

"War As I Knew It". Book by George S. Patton. Chapter "Reflections and Suggestions", 1947.

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It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.

Norman Schwarzkopf

Inspiring, Courage, Veterans Day

Norman Schwarzkopf (2010). “It Doesn't Take a Hero: The Autobiography of General Norman Schwarzkopf”, p.13, Bantam

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The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

Douglas MacArthur

Peace, Military, War

"Duty, Honor, Country: A Pictorial Autobiography".

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