Inspirational Quotes For Independence Day

Today’s post celebrates our nation’s independence by reflecting upon the words of past and present American leaders.

Some of the quotes included are amusing, some are sobering, and some are inspirational, but they are all part of the American spirit that has helped form our great nation.  We wish you a wonderful Independence Day!

12 Military Quotes

Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.

General Douglas MacArthur

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Military power wins battles, but spiritual power wins wars.

General George Marshall

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Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.

General George S. Patten

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Army: A body of men assembled to rectify the mistakes of the diplomats.

Josephus Daniels

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This nation will remain the land of the free, only so long as it is the home of the brave.

Elmer Davis

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Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Colin Powell

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If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t plan your mission properly.

David Hackworth

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History does not entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.

General Dwight Eisenhower

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A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

General Dwight Eisenhower

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If men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail.

General Ulysses S. Grant

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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.

President George Washington

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It is God’s job to forgive Osama Bin Laden. It is our job to arrange a face to face  meeting.

General Norman Schwarzkopf

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14 Presidential Quotes

Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth. 

George Washington

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I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachment of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

James Madison

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I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

Abraham Lincoln

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The goal to strive for is a poor government but a rich people.

Andrew Johnson

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Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce.

James Garfield

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To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.

Theodore Roosevelt

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Next to the right of liberty, the right of property is the most important individual right guaranteed by the Constitution.

William Taft

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The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Franklin Roosevelt   

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May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.

John F. Kennedy

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A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.

Gerald Rudolph Ford

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We should live our lives as though Christ were coming this afternoon.

Jimmy Carter

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If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

Ronald Reagan

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There is nothing wrong in America that can’t be fixed with what is right in America.

William Clinton

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(A great poem that resonates with me is One Warrior’s Creed, from my friend, Retired Special Forces Colonel Randy Watt.  It was written when he was leaving a tour in Iraq and was asked, “Why Do You Guys Do What You Do?”)

If today is to be THE DAY, so be it.
If you seek to do battle with me this day
you will receive the best that I am capable of giving.

It may not be enough,
but it will be everything that I have to give
and it will be impressive
for I have constantly prepared myself for this day.

I have trained, drilled and rehearsed my actions
so that I might have the best chance of defeating you.

I have kept myself in peak physical condition,
schooled myself in the martial skills
and have become proficient in the application of combat tactics.

You may defeat me, but you will pay a severe price
and will be lucky to escape with your life.
You may kill me, but I am willing to die if necessary.

I do not fear Death,
for I have been close enough to it on enough occasions
that it no longer concerns me.

But I do fear the loss of my Honor
and would rather die fighting
than to have it said that I was without Courage.

So I WILL FIGHT YOU,
no matter how insurmountable it may seem,
and to the death if need be,
in order that it may never be said of me
that I was not a Warrior.

© Steven R. Watt, All Rights Reserved.
OneWarriorsCreed.com

2 final quotes that seem appropriate for the day:

If you don’t have a sword, sell your extra cloak and go buy one

Jesus in Luke 22:36

Put your sword back in it’s place

Jesus in Matthew 26:52

Do you have a favorite military or presidential quote or remembrance to add? Please sound off by posting below!

And, if you haven’t picked up your super-stealth tac pens, I want to strongly encourage you to do so now by clicking >HERE

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16 Comments

  • Meathead 41

    Reply Reply July 4, 2023

    To know nothing of the past,
    Is to understand little of the present,
    And have no conception of the future.

    Unknown

  • Scott D Mattson

    Reply Reply July 4, 2022

    “He who has never learned to obey can never be a good commander.” Aristotle

    “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.”
    Unknown.

  • Angel L Gonzalez

    Reply Reply July 4, 2022

    I wonder what the odds are that this would be seen on CNN, heard on NPR or read in the New York Times?

    • Ox

      Reply Reply July 4, 2022

      Z E R O 🙁

  • David

    Reply Reply July 4, 2020

    “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke.

    “Beware the old man in a profession where men usually die young” Warrior Wisdom.

  • Daryl

    Reply Reply July 4, 2019

    If our young people could only read these quotes, their education in self reliance and patriotism would be complete. Thanks Ox for sharing these.

  • A Fed Up Vet

    Reply Reply July 4, 2019

    “Governments’ First Duty is to Protect the people, NOT Run Their Lives”

    Ronald Reagan

  • James

    Reply Reply July 4, 2019

    “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God”
    Ben Franklin

  • J.R.

    Reply Reply July 4, 2018

    “Nothing is worth fighting for save our homes and the Bill of Rights” Smedley Butler

  • George Percival

    Reply Reply July 4, 2018

    It is better to die on your feet, rather than to live on your knees.
    unknown

  • Rtramont

    Reply Reply July 4, 2018

    This a quote that was posted but more of it needs to be seen…

    “History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.

    A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

    We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.”

    President Dwight D Eisenhower

  • Edward DeRosier

    Reply Reply July 4, 2018

    Thanks for the message and the quotes. My contribution of quotes for today:

    Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.
    Thomas Jefferson

    Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come.
    William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar”, Act 2 scene 2

    Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
    C.S. Lewis

  • Frankie

    Reply Reply July 6, 2017

    “The true soldier prays for peace for he alone will endure the hardships of war.”
    Gen. G. Marshall

  • left coast chuck

    Reply Reply July 4, 2017

    “Retreat hell! We’re attacking in another direction.” General Holland M. “Howlin’ Mad” Smith, USMC, Korea, December 1950.

    “Men, there are Chines in front us, in back of us and on both sides of us. The bastards can’t get away now.” Colonel Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC, Korean, December 1950.

    • Rtramont

      Reply Reply July 4, 2018

      Semper fi devil dog!

  • paul

    Reply Reply July 4, 2017

    People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. George Orwell

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