17 quotes
Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
The cause of the great War of the Rebellion against the United States will have to be attributed to slavery.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
I hope the good feeling inaugurated may continue to the end.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
The Southern rebellion was largely the outgrowth of the Mexican war. Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions. We got our punishment in the most sanguinary and expensive war of modern times.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
The right of revolution is an inherent one.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
Our conversation grew so pleasant that I almost forgot the object of our meeting.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
What General Lee's feelings were I do not know.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
The war was expensive to the South as well as to the North, both in blood and treasure, but it was worth all it cost.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
For the present, and so long as there are living witnesses of the great war of sections, there will be people who will not be consoled for the loss of a cause which they believed to be holy. As time passes, people, even of the South, will begin to wonder how it was possible that their ancestors ever fought for or justified institutions which acknowledged the right of property in man.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
It is preposterous to suppose that the people of one generation can lay down the best and only rules of government for all who are to come after them, and under unforeseen contingencies.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
But any people or part of a people who resort to this remedy, stake their lives, their property, and every claim for protection given by citizenship — on the issue. Victory, or the conditions imposed by the conqueror — must be the result.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
I took no part myself in any such view of the case at the time, but since the war is over, reviewing the whole question, I have come to the conclusion that the saying is quite true.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
It was very much discussed whether the South would carry out its threat to secede and set up a separate government, the corner-stone of which should be, protection to the 'Divine' institution of slavery.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
War has made us a nation of great power and intelligence. We have but little to do to preserve peace, happiness and prosperity at home, and the respect of other nations. Our experience ought to teach us the necessity of the first; our power secures the latter.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
They saw their power waning, and this led them to encroach upon the prerogatives and independence of the Northern States by enacting such laws as the Fugitive Slave Law.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)
The war has made us a nation of great power and intelligence. We have but little to do to preserve peace, happiness and prosperity at home, and the respect of other nations. Our experience ought to teach us the necessity of the first; our power secures the latter.
Personal Memoirs of General U. S. Grant (1885)