Veterans Day Quotes 2016: 36 Sayings That Highlight The Bravery Of The US Military

Happy Veterans Day! Each year, Nov. 11 is set aside to honor the brave citizens who have served, or are serving, in a branch of the U.S. military. It’s not to be confused with Memorial Day, which is to recognize those who died in active military service.

Listed below are Veterans Day quotes, courtesy of American Profile, About.com and Brainy Quote.

1. “Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” — Winston Churchill

2. “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.” — G.K. Chesterton

3. “When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?” — Michel de Montaigne

4. “Have the courage to act instead of react.” — Earlene Larson Jenks

5. “Perfect valor is to behave, without witnesses, as one would act were all the world watching.” — François de la Rochefoucauld

6. “The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude.” 
— Jeff Miller

7. “Praising what is lost makes the remembrance dear.” — William Shakespeare

8. “We don’t know them all but we owe them all.” — Anonymous

9. “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” — Elmer David

10. “If there is valor, there is hope.” — Publius Cornelius Tacitus

11. “If you’re not gonna pull the trigger, don’t point the gun.” — James Baker

12. “Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death!” — Sun Tzu

13. “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” — Maya Angelou

14. “I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, ‘Mother, what was war?’” — Eve Merriam

15. “The most certain way of insuring victory is to march briskly and in good order against the enemy, always endeavoring to gain ground.” —Frederick the Great

16. “In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.” — Mark Twain

17. “Better than honor and glory, and History’s iron pen, was the thought of duty done and the love of his fellow men.” — Richard Watson Gilder

18. “Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.” — Michel de Montaigne

19. “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” — John Fitzgerald Kennedy

20. “Either war is obsolete or men are.” — Buckminster Fuller

21. “Our veterans accepted the responsibility to defend America and uphold our values when duty called.” 
— Bill Shuster

22. “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself." 
— Joseph Campbell

23. “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” — Billy Graham

24. “Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go.” — Bernard Malamud

25. “The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.” — Patrick Henry

26. “Well, look at what people are doing for returned veterans now. The wounded warriors. They're working hard to make the wounded veterans feel that they are loved and welcomed home, unlike Vietnam. It was not a very kind, gentle world then. I think we are kinder and gentler.” — Barbara Bush

27. “While only one day of the year is dedicated solely to honoring our veterans, Americans must never forget the sacrifices that many of our fellow countrymen have made to defend our country and protect our freedoms.” — Randy Neugebauer

28. “The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” — Thucydides

29. “Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but the Marines don’t have that problem.” — Ronald Reagan

30. “While we can never truly repay the debt we owe our heroes, the least we should do for our brave veterans is to ensure that the government takes a proactive approach to delivering the services and benefits they have earned, so they can access the care they need and so richly deserve.” — Kristen Gillibrand

31. “The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment.” — Judd Gregg

32. “Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.” — Abraham Lincoln

33. “It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the organizer, who gave us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.” — Father Dennis Edward O’Brien, USMC

34. “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” — George Washington

35. “I believe it is the nature of people to be heroes, given the chance.” — James A. Autry

36. “We can't equate spending on veterans with spending on defense. Our strength is not just in the size of our defense budget, but in the size of our hearts, in the size of our gratitude for their sacrifice. And that's not just measured in words or gestures.” — Jennifer Granholm

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