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Whoever can surprize well must Conquer.

— John Paul Jones

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Source, in full

letter to the American commissioners to France, February 10, 1778. Papers of Benjamin Franklin, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Reproduced courtesy of the APS Library. This appears as "Who can surprise well must conquer" in John Paul Jones, Fighter for Freedom and Glory by Lincoln Lorenz, p. xiii (1943).

More quotes by John Paul Jones

A navy is essentially and necessarily aristocratic. True as may be the political principles for which we are now contending they can never be practically applied or even admitted on board ship, out of port, or off soundings. This may seem a hardship, but it is nevertheless the simplest of truths. Whilst the ships sent forth by the Congress may and must fight for the principles of human rights and republican freedom, the ships themselves must be ruled and commanded at sea under a system of absolute despotism.

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Attribution

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