Memorial Day Quotes

• The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we - in a less final, less heroic way - be willing to give of ourselves.

  Ronald Reagan

  Sacrifice, Giving, Presidential

  United States. President (1981-1989 : Reagan), Ronald Reagan (1982). “Ronald Reagan”

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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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• Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.

  Harry S. Truman

  Country, Gratitude, Sacrifice

  United States. President (1945-1953 : Truman), Harry S. Truman (1961). “Harry S. Truman: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President, 1945-53”

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

  Nathan Hale

  Inspirational, Life, Country

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

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  It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.

  George S. Patton

  Sympathy, Death, Wisdom

  Speech at the Copley Plaza Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts, on June 07, 1945. "Patton, ordeal and triumph". Book by Ladislas Farago, 1963.

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

  Billy Graham

  Motivational, Veterans Day, Courage

  "A Time for Moral Courage". Reader's Digest, July 1964.

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• Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Veterans Day, Courage, Our Veterans

  Attributed to "Essais" by Michel de Montaigne, 1595.

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• Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.

  Omar N. Bradley

  Courage, Adventure, Bad Day

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Freedom, 4th Of July

  Cuban Missile Crisis Address to the Nation, delivered 22 October 1962

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  Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.

  Mark Twain

  Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

  Pudd'nhead Wilson ch. 12, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar" (1894)

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• To our Soldiers: Thank you again and again, you will always matter, not only on this Memorial Day but every day!

  Nathan East

  Soldier, Matter, You Again

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  True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.

  Clarence Darrow

  Peace, Hate, War

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• The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men.

  Minot Judson Savage

  Uplifting, Death, Military

  Minot Judson Savage (1884). “Poems of modern thought”

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• Words are even more feeble on this Memorial Day, for the sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them.

  Ronald Reagan

  Strong, Sight, Silence

  United States. President (1981-1989 : Reagan), Ronald Reagan (1982). “Ronald Reagan”

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• Cover them over with beautiful flowers, Deck them with garlands, those brothers of ours, Lying so silent by night and by day Sleeping the years of their manhood away. Give them the meed they have won in the past; Give them the honors their future forcast; Give them the chaplets they won in the strife; Give them the laurels they lost with their life.

  Will Carleton

  Beautiful, Uplifting, Brother

  Will Carleton (1875). “Farm Legends”, p.87, Belford Bros.

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• The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

  Desmond Tutu

  Peace, Freedom, Military

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• The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.

  Socrates

  Life, Wisdom, Being Yourself

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• Today, the United States stands as a beacon of liberty and democratic strength before the community of nations. We are resolved to stand firm against those who would destroy the freedoms we cherish. We are determined to achieve an enduring peace - a peace with liberty and with honor. This determination, this resolve, is the highest tribute we can pay to the many who have fallen in the service of our Nation.

  Ronald Reagan

  Determination, Community, Honor

  Reagan, Ronald (1982). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1981”, p.384, Best Books on

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

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Country

  Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961

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• They, and we, are the legacies of an unbroken chain of proud men and women who served their country with honor, who waged war so that we might know peace, who braved hardship so that we might know opportunity, who paid the ultimate price so that we might know freedom.

  Barack Obama

  Country, War, Opportunity

  "CNN Newsroom" with Tony Harris, www.cnn.com. May 25, 2009.

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• Ceremonies are important. But our gratitude has to be more than visits to the troops, and once-a-year Memorial Day ceremonies. We honor the dead best by treating the living well.

  Jennifer Granholm

  Inspiring, Gratitude, Memories

  "Honor Sacrifice by Supporting Vets" by Jennifer M. Granholm, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 26, 2012.

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

  Jeff Miller

  Thanksgiving, Country, Gratitude

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• And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.

  Joseph Rodman Drake

  Inspiring, Country, Memories

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• The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.

  Mark Twain

  Inspirational, Country, Time

  "The Czar's Soliloquy". Essay by Mark Twain, first published in The North American Review, No. DLXXX (p. 324), March 1905.

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