A great country always comes with a great military.
The military exists to deter war and also to protect the security of a country, protecting us while we’re sleeping at home in our beds and also defending our freedoms. We’ve put together this collection of the best military quotes to honor and appreciate our brave soldiers.
Here’s a collection of meaningful military quotes:
100 Meaningful Military Quotes
1. “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” – Thomas Paine
2. “This will remain the land of the free so long as it is the home of the brave.” – Elmer Davis
3. “Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.” – Heraclitus
4. “People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” – Richard Grenier
5. “The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men.” – Minot J. Savage
6. “May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country!” – Sen. Daniel Webster
7. “Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
8. “Modern war is the most highly developed of all sciences. We have perfected our weapons but failed to perfect the men who use them.” – Billy Graham
9. “Fortune favors the brave.” – Terence
10th of 100 Military Quotes
10. “True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing your job.” – Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr
11. “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight—it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” – President Dwight D. Eisenhower
12. “We must never forget why we have, and why we need our military. Our armed forces exist solely to ensure our nation is safe so that each and every one of us can sleep soundly at night, knowing we have ‘guardians at the gate.” – Allen West
13. ”Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.” – Douglas MacArthur
14. ”This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans”. As a civilian, I owe an unpayable debt to all our military. Going forward let’s not send our servicemen and women off to war or conflict zones unless it is overwhelmingly justifiable and on moral high ground.” – Thomas M Smith
15. “The hand of the aggressor is stayed by strength — and strength alone.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
16. ”Heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history.” – Mary Roach
17. “No man has ever listened himself out of a job.” – Calvin Coolidge
18. ”If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t plan your mission properly.” – David Hackworth
19. “War is the greatest evil Satan has invented to corrupt our hearts and souls. We should honor our soldiers, but we should never honor war.” – Dean Hughes
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20. “How can men boast that they control their own destiny when they cannot solve the problems of war?” – Billy Graham
21. “What is at a peak is certain to decline. He who shows his hand will certainly be defeated. He who can prevail in battle by taking advantage of his enemy’s doubts is invincible.” – Cao Cao
22. ”No guts, no glory.” – Major Gen. Frederick C. Blesse
23. “Could I have but a line a century hence crediting a contribution to the advance of peace, I would gladly yield every honor which has been accorded me in war.” – Douglas MacArthur
24. “Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” – Alexander Hamilton
25. “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste death but once.” – William Shakespeare
26. “When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say.” – Abraham Lincoln
27. “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
28. “The military might of a country represents its national strength. Only when it builds up its military might in every way can it develop into a thriving country.” – Kim Jong-un
29. “Americans never quit.” – General Douglas MacArthur
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30. “We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.” – Winston S. Churchill
31. “The Army is the true nobility of our country.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
32. “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” – Ronald Reagan
33. “A safe army is better than a safe border” – B.R. Ambedkar
34. “If there is not the war, you don’t get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don’t get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name.” – Theodore Roosevelt
35. “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” – Elmer Davis
36. “We live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns.” – Aaron Sorkin
37. “A person cannot be a Marine without honor.” – General Carl Epting Mundy, Jr.
38. “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
39. “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
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40. “No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.” – Helmuth von Moltke
41. “It is a proud privilege to be a soldier – a good soldier … [with] discipline, self-respect, pride in his unit and his country, a high sense of duty and obligation to comrades and to his superiors, and a self-confidence born of demonstrated ability.” – George S. Patton Jr.
42. “No man is a man until he has been a soldier.” – Louis de Bernières
43. “Two out of every three professional officers considered that wars were made for armies and not armies for wars.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
44. “To be prepared against surprise is to be trained. To be prepared for surprise is to be educated.” – James Carse
45. “Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all. – George Washington
46. “I am not afraid of an army of lions lead by a sheep; I am afraid of sheep lead by a lion.” – Alexander the Great
47. “Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.” – Carl von Clausewitz
48. “Freedom is never free.” – Anonymous
49. “Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid.” – Colonel David Hackworth
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50. “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
51. “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” – Maya Angelou
52. “He loves his country best who strives to make it best.” – Robert G. Ingersoll
53. “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” – Joseph Campbell
54. ”I don’t know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they terrify me.” – The Duke of Wellington
55. “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
56. ”Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
57. “A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace.” – President Theodore Roosevelt
58. “We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” – Cynthia Ozick
59. “If you wage war, do it energetically and with severity. This is the only way to make it shorter and consequently less inhuman.” – Napoléon Bonaparte
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60. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure.” – Colin Powell
61. “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” – Winston Churchill
62. “The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers. The Soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country” – George S. Patton Jr.
63. “Sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the Gun down.” – Malcolm X
64. “True patriotism isn’t cheap. It’s about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going.” – Robert Reich
65. “A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood.” – General George Smith Patton, Jr.
66. “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” – Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry
67. “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” – William Arthur Ward
68. “Surprise is an event that occurs in the mind of an enemy commander.” – Jerry Pournelle
69. “It is long since I have learned to hold popular opinion of no value.” – Alexander Hamilton
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70. “A ship without Marines is like a garment without buttons.” – Admiral David D. Porter
71. “From time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots. – Thomas Jefferson
72. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams
73. “Live for something rather than die for nothing.” – General George S. Patton
74. “We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf.” – George Orwell
75. “A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him.” – Douglas MacArthur
76. “It is not enough to fight. It is the spirit which we bring to the fight that decides the issue. It is morale that wins the victory.” – General George Catlett Marshall
77. “They’ve got us surrounded — the poor bastards.” – An unnamed medic
78. “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable.” – President Dwight D. Eisenhower
79. “I can’t see how a single man could spend his time to better advantage than in the Marines.” – Sergeant Major Daniel Joseph “Dan” Daly
80th of 100 Military Quotes
80. “The objective of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.” – George Patton
81. “Soldiers can sometimes make decisions that are smarter than the orders they have been given.” – Orson Scott Card, Enders Game
82. “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
83. “America without her Soldiers would be like God without His angels.” – Claudia Pemberton
84. “Who dares, wins. Who sweats, wins. Who plans, wins.” – British Special Air Service (SAS)
85. “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.” – Gen. Douglas MacArthur
86. “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” – Nathan Hale
87. “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.” – General Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Army
88. “It would be a joke if the conduct of the victor had to be justified to the vanquished.” – Napoléon Bonaparte
89. “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.” – George S. Patton Jr.
90th of 100 Military Quotes
90. “Word to the Nation: Guard zealously your right to serve in the Armed Forces, for without them, there will be no other rights to guard.” – John F. Kennedy
91. “If you can’t experience the humanity of people who don’t look like you, you’re not civilized enough to be an officer of the peace.” – Ann Medlock
92. “War is too important to be left to the generals.” – Georges Clémenceau
93. “The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment.” – Judd Gregg
94. “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” – George Orwell
95. “To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.” – Andre Malraux
96. “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.” – General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
97. “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
98. “These fallen heroes represent the character of a nation who has a long history of patriotism and honor – and a nation who has fought many battles to keep our country free from threats of terror.” – Michael N. Castle
99. “Those who give up essential liberties for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” – Benjamin Franklin
100. “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” – Albert Einstein
Summary
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