Veterans Day Quotes
Nothing on this page was written for Veterans Day. It is built from four pages, War, Courage, Patriotism and Gratitude, and the mix is not tidy. The war page contains plenty of writers who hated it, and the patriotism page contains Bertrand Russell remarking in 1962 that patriots talk of dying for their country and never of killing for it.
That makes the page more honest than a greeting card and less convenient. If you need a line of thanks, the gratitude entries are the safest place to look. If you want something that sounds like a speech, read the notes first, because some of the best-known patriotic lines here are flagged as misattributed.
Most quoted on veterans day:
I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.
War without fire is worth nothing—like sausages without mustard.
Man should be trained for war and woman for the recreation of the warrior: all else is folly.
History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.
Strike against war, for without you no battles can be fought.
'Tis pride, rank pride, and haughtiness of soul:
I think the Romans call it Stoicism.
The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.