Memorial Day Sayings

Honoring those who served and sacrificed — 481 sayings

We must be a nation of pioneers, willing to sacrifice everything for our homeland.

— David Ben-Gurion 1936
General

The great work of national reconstruction must be carried out in three stages: military rule, political tutelage, and constitutional government.

— Sun Yat-sen 1924
Political

A good soldier does not fear death, but fears dishonor.

— Chiang Kai-shek Approx. 1930s
General

Without discipline, there is no army. Without an army, there is no nation.

— Chiang Kai-shek Approx. 1920s-1930s
War & Violence

We must be prepared to make sacrifices for our independence.

— Julius Nyerere c. 1960s
General

I am ready to sacrifice everything for Russia.

— Boris Yeltsin 1993
General

The Russian army is a guarantee of our security.

— Boris Yeltsin 1994
War & Violence

We are still the country of strong, resilient, optimistic Americans who are willing to work hard and to make sacrifices for a brighter future.

— Barack Obama 2016
General

I am a soldier, not a priest.

— Richard the Lionheart c. 1190
General

I am a soldier of liberty.

— Garibaldi 1860
General

A conquering army is always in the right.

— Bismarck 1870
War & Violence

Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.

— Bismarck 1888
General

The greatest danger to Germany is a war on two fronts.

— Bismarck Published posthumously
War & Violence

I will not bring the army or the police on to the streets. I will not shoot at Poles, even if only because I have the Nobel Peace Prize.

— Lech Walesa 1995
Self-Deprecating

If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.

— Noam Chomsky 2003
Political

The United States has been carrying out a major terrorist war against Cuba for 50 years.

— Noam Chomsky 2013
War & Violence

I do not wish to be shut up in a corral. All agency Indians I have seen are worthless. They are neither red warriors nor white farmers.

— Sitting Bull Approx. 1880s
Self-Deprecating

No state is ever well established unless it has a good army.

— Machiavelli 1531
War & Violence

The basic liberties are not to be sacrificed for economic gain.

— John Rawls 1971
General

One must never sacrifice a principle for a compromise.

— Ayn Rand N/A (common theme)
General
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