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Mr. Blair, I look upon secession as anarchy. If I owned the four millions of slaves in the South, I would sacrifice them all to the Union; but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native State?

— Robert E. Lee Life and Campaigns of General Robert E. Lee (1866)

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More quotes by Robert E. Lee

I cannot consent to place in the control of others one who cannot control himself.

It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.

The education of a man is never completed until he dies.

Peter's Quotations: Ideas for Our Time (1977)

I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union.

We must forgive our enemies. I can truly say that not a day has passed since the war began that I have not prayed for them.

A Life of General Robert E. Lee (1871)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Robert E. Lee (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.