Navy Quotes

• I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.

  John F. Kennedy

  Military, Pride, Men

  Kennedy, John F. (1964). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963”, p.620, Best Books on

  44 Copy quote

  Show source

• This ship is built to fight. You had better know how.

  Arleigh Burke

  Fighting, Ships, Know How

  36 Copy quote

• There's this misconception that the Navy is this cruise ship, and you get to go out and sail around, and every now and then, you have to swab the deck. But, no, it is a very impressive group of young people that live at sea, in this place that's very uncomfortable. They exude a pride that is well-deserved.

  Tom Hanks

  Pride, Sea, People

  "Tom Hanks Talks Captain Phillips, Meeting the Real Title Character, Filming on a Lifeboat, Shooting the Movie’s Final Scene and Working with the U.S. Navy". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. October 8, 2013.

  5 Copy quote

  Show source

• The Navy is much more than a job; much more than service to country. It is a way of life. It gets in your blood.

  Albert F. Pratt

  Country, Jobs, Blood

  54 Copy quote

• The Navy is a master plan designed by geniuses for execution by idiots. If you are not an idiot, but find yourself in the Navy, you can only operate well by pretending to be one. All the shortcuts and economies and common-sense changes that your native intelligence suggests to you are mistakes. Learn to quash them. Constantly ask yourself, "How would I do this if I were a fool?" Throttle down your mind to a crawl. Then you will never go wrong.

  Herman Wouk

  Mistake, Common Sense, Finding Yourself

  "Herman Wouk to publish first memoir aged 100" by Claire Armitstead, www.theguardian.com. May 27, 2015.

  10 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Military, Army, Forget

  Duff Gilfond, Calvin Coolidge (1932). “The Rise of Saint Calvin: Merry Sidelights on the Career of Mr. Coolidge”

  118 Copy quote

  Show source

• There are no extraordinary men... just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with.

  William Halsey

  Military, Men, History

  79 Copy quote

• A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Military, War, Naval

  Theodore Roosevelt (1916). “Fear God and Take Your Own Part”, New York : George H. Doran

  42 Copy quote

  Show source

• When asked what I am most proud of, I stick out my chest, hold my head high and state proudly, 'I served in the United States Navy!'

  John F. Kennedy

  United States, Proud, Sticks

  14 Copy quote

• Today at Pearl Harbor, veterans are gathering to pay tribute to the young men they remember who never escaped the sunken ships. And over the years, some Pearl Harbor veterans have made a last request. They ask that their ashes be brought down and placed inside the USS Arizona. After the long lives given them, they wanted to rest besides the best men they ever knew. Such loyalty and love remain the greatest strength of the United States Navy.

  George W. Bush

  Loyalty, Men, Years

  9 Copy quote

• I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way.

  John Paul Jones

  Life, Fear, Military

  Letter to Le Ray de Chaumont, 16 Nov. 1778

  63 Copy quote

  Show source

• I've received many honors and I'm grateful for them; but I've already received the highest award I'll ever receive, and that has been the privilege and honor of serving very proudly in the United States Navy.

  Grace Hopper

  Military, Grateful, Awards

  Chips (Department of the Navy information technology magazine), October 1986.

  73 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

• When I lost my rifle, the Army charged me 85 dollars. That is why in the Navy the Captain goes down with the ship.

  Dick Gregory

  Funny, Military, Responsibility

  36 Copy quote

• Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

  Leadership, Art, Business

  Eisenhower, Dwight D. (1960). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954”, p.477, Best Books on

  94 Copy quote

  Show source

• There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea.

  Joseph Conrad

  Life, Ocean, Army

  Joseph Conrad (1905). “Lord Jim”, p.7, McClure, Phillips & Company

  67 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  There's a storm inside of us, a burning river, a drive. You push yourself further than anyone could think possible. You are never out of the fight.

  Marcus Luttrell

  Motivational, Military, Fighting

  151 Copy quote

• Whoever commands the sea, commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself.

  Walter Raleigh

  Sea, World, Riches

  21 Copy quote

• Without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive.

  George Washington

  Submarines, Force, Naval

  George Washington, John Clement Fitzpatrick, David Maydole Matteson (1782). “The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799”, p.341

  75 Copy quote

  Show source

• The United States Navy carries the might and the mission of America to the farthest parts of the world.

  George W. Bush

  America, United States, World

  5 Copy quote

• Wherever you are or whatever your job, don't be confused or diverted by false priorities. We have only one mission to perform-that is to fight and win. And, we must do it better than anyone else in the world.

  Leslie E. Brown

  Inspirational, Jobs, Confused

  47 Copy quote

• We few. We happy few. We band of brothers, for he today That sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother.

  William Shakespeare

  Brother, Business, Military

  'Henry V' (1599) act 4, sc. 3, l. 35

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious.

  George Washington

  Military, Night, Succeed

  George Washington (1908). “Letters and Addresses,”

  73 Copy quote

  Show source

• The wonder is always new that any sane man can be a sailor.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Army, Men, Sailing

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1872). “Representative men. English traits. Conduct of life”, p.172

  18 Copy quote

  Show source

• And the winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

  Edward Gibbon

  Inspirational, Life, Wisdom

  "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire". Volume 6,

  103 Copy quote

  Show source