Robert E. Lee
There are things in the Old Book which I may not be able to explain, but I fully accept it as the infallible Word of God, and receive its teachings as inspired by the Holy Spirit.Collection: Book
They do not know what they say. If it came to a conflict of arms, the war will last at least four years. Northern politicians will not appreciate the determination and pluck of the South, and Southern politicians do not appreciate the numbers, resources, and patient perseverance of the North. Both sides forget that we are all Americans. I foresee that our country will pass through a terrible ordeal, a necessary expiation, perhaps, for our national sins.Collection: Country
Sir, if you ever presume again to speak disrespectfully of General Grant in my presence, either you or I will sever his connection with this university.Collection: War
Wisdom is nothing more than healed pain.Collection: Wisdom
There is no more dangerous experiment than that of undertaking to be one thing before a man's face and another behind his back.Collection: War
What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.Collection: Beautiful
It is history that teaches us to hope.Collection: Hope
I was too weak to defend, so I attackedCollection: Weak
Alabama soldiers, all I ask of you is to keep up with the Texans!Collection: War
True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another, and the motive which impels them the desire to do right is precisely the same.Collection: Men
You cannot be a true man until you learn to obey.Collection: Men
Say what you mean to do...and take it for granted you mean to do right. Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one...you will wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind.Collection: Friendship
The questions which for years were in dispute between the State and General Government, and which unhappily were not decided by the dictates of reason, but referred to the decision of war, having been decided against us, it is the part of wisdom to acquiesce in the result, and of candor to recognize the fact.Collection: War
We must forgive our enemies.Collection: Forgiving
But what a cruel thing is war to separate and destroy families and friends.Collection: Friendship
Respect is based on Friendship,and friendship is based on love and love is so accidental isn't it ?Collection: Love Is
Let danger never turn you aside from the pursuit of honor or the service to your country ... Know that death is inevitable and the fame of virtue is immortalCollection: Country
I endeavored to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for all his mercies to me, for his preservation of me through all the dangers I have passed, and all the blessings which he has bestowed upon me, for I know I fall far short of my obligationsCollection: Father
It is easier to make our wishes conform to our means than to make our means conform to our wishes.Collection: Mean
Life Insurance trusts I consider sacred. To hazard the property of the dead & to lose the scanty earnings of fathers & husbands, who have toiled & saved that they may leave something to their families deprived of their care & the support of their labour, is to my mind the worst of crimes.Collection: Husband
History teaches us hope.Collection: History
My experience through life has convinced me that, while moderation and temperance in all things are commendable and beneficial, abstinence from spirituous liquors is the best safeguard of morals and health.Collection: Alcohol
No blame can be attached to the army for its failure to accomplish what was projected by me... I alone am to blame, in perhaps expecting too much of its prowess and valor... could I have foreseen that the attack on the last day would fail, I should certainly have tried some other course... but I do not know what better course I could have pursued.Collection: Army
He has lost his left arm, but I my right.Collection: War
Go home all you boys who fought with me and help build up the shattered fortunes of our old stateCollection: Home
There is always hazard in military activity, but we must decide between the positive loss of inactivity and the risk of action.Collection: Military
My heart bleeds at the death of every one of our gallant men.Collection: Sympathy
I pray that on this day [Christmas] when only peace and good-will are preached to mankind, better thoughts may fill the hearts of our enemies and turn them to peace.Collection: Heart
Let us go home and cultivate our virtues.Collection: Home
Many opportunities have been lost and hundreds of valuable lives uselessly sacrificed for want of a strict observance of discipline. Its object is to enable an army to bring promptly into action the largest possible number of its men, in good order and under the control of their officers. Its effects are visible in all military history, which records the triumphs of discipline and courage far more frequently than those of numbers and resources.Collection: Military
There is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths.Collection: Surrender
Whither shall I flee? To no country on earth that I know of where there is as much liberty as yet remains to me even in Virginia.Collection: Country
All this has been my fault.Collection: War
You have only always to do what is right. It will become easier by practice, and you enjoy in the midst of your trials the pleasure of an approving conscience.Collection: Practice
To be a good soldier, you must love the army. To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.Collection: Army
Our country demands all our strength, all our energies. To resist the powerful combination now forming against us will require every man at his place. If victorious, we will have everything to hope for in the future. If defeated, nothing will be left for us to live for.Collection: Country
The enemy is here, and if we do not whip him, he will whip us.Collection: War
The trite saying that 'honesty is the best policy' has met with the just criticism that honesty is not policy. The seems to be true. The real honest man is honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy.Collection: Honesty
It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.Collection: Memorial Day
The time is not come for impartial history. If the truth were told just now, it would not be credited.Collection: Ifs
I am now considered such a monster, that I hesitate to darken with my shadow, the doors of those I love, lest I should bring upon them misfortune.Collection: War
There is scarcely anything that is right that we cannot hope to accomplish by labor and perseverance. But the first must be earnest and the second unremitting.Collection: Perseverance
The biggest mistake of my life was taking a military education.Collection: Military
We made a great mistake in the beginning of our struggle, and I fear, in spite of all we can do, it will prove to be a fatal mistake. We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and all our best generals to edit the newspapersCollection: War
As a general principle you should not force young men to do their duty, but let them do it voluntarily and thereby develop their characters.Collection: Character
If we do not do this our churches will lighthouses without light, wells without water, dumb witnesses, sleeping watchmen, silent trumpets, messengers without tidings, a comfort for infidels, jubilant joys to the devil, and an offense to God.Collection: Friday
We must...submit ourselves in adversity to the will of a merciful God as cheerfully as in prosperity.Collection: War
My trust is in the mercy and wisdom of a kind Providence, who ordereth all things for our good.Collection: Civil War
We must look to the rising generation for the restoration of the country.Collection: Country