Inspirational Quotes, Poems & Sayings for Military Personnel

Adding to my notable quote collection, this selection is dedicated to the men and women of our armed forces....army, navy, air force, marines as well as their loved ones. Many of these quotes were found in a couple WWII handbooks given to the troops at that time to lift moral and spirits. I believe that even though many years have past they will still encourage our troops through the tough times.

Please feel free to use these military quotes, phrases, sayings and poems to encourage the military man or woman in your life!

And be sure to pass along my heartfelt thanks for their service from me!

Inspirational Poems, Quotes and Sayings

for Military Personnel

A champion is someone who gets up, even when they can't. ~ Natalie Rogers

A courage mightier than the sun –
You rose and fought and, fighting won! ~ Angela Morgan

A faithful friend is the medicine of life.

A good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan executed at some indefinite point in the future. ~ General George Patton Jr

A leader is a man who had the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do, and like it. ~ Harry Truman

A man should be upright, not be kept upright. ~ Marcus Aurelius

A mysterious bond of brotherhood makes all men one. ~ Carlyle

A nation’s institutions and beliefs are determined by it’s character. ~ Herbert Spencer

A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood. ~ General George Patton Jr

A republic may be called the climate of civilization. ~ Victor Hugo

A sound mind in a manly body. ~ Homer

Action is the proper fruit of knowledge. ~ Thomas Fuller

Advantage is a better soldier than rashness. ~ H.G. Bohn

All actual heroes are essential men,
And all men possible heroes. ~ E.B. Browning

All men are created equal. ~ Declaration of Independence

Almost everything that is great has been done by youth. ~ Disraeli

Ambition, the soldier’s virtue. ~ Shakespeare

America is the only place where man is full-grown! ~ O.W. Holmes

America means opportunity, freedom, power. ~ Emerson

Americanism consists in utterly believing in the principles of America. ~ Woodrow Wilson

And you can win, though you face the worst,
If you feel that you’re going to do it. ~ Edgar A Guest

And though hard be the task,
Keep a stiff upper lip. ~ Phoebe Cary

Arise, go forth, and conquer as of old. ~ Tennyson

Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. ~ John F. Kennedy


Be strong, and quit yourselves like men.

Be sure you are right, then go ahead. ~ David Crockett

Being, be bold and venture to be wise. ~ Horace

Beware of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give us victories. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Confidence begets confidence.

Courage, an independent spark from heaven's bright throne, By which the soul stands raised, triumphant, high, alone.

Courage in danger is half the battle. ~ Plautus

Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace. ~ Amelia Earhart

Courage is the virtue which champions the cause of right. ~ Cicero

Dare, will, keep silence. ~ William Bolitho

De oppresso liber. (To free the oppressed.) ~ US Army Special Forces

Democracy is better than tyranny. ~ Periander

Democracy is on trial in the world, on a more colossal scale than ever before. ~ C.F. Dole

Democracy’s ceremonial, its feast, it’s great function, is the election. ~ H.G. Wells

Difficulties are things that show what men are. ~ Epictetus

Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less. ~ Robert E. Lee

Don't limit your challenges - challenge your limits.

Don’t spread patriotism too thin. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Duty’s claim and country’s call
Shall be conscience for us all! ~ J.L. Rentoul

Equal rights for all, special privileges for none. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Establish the eternal truth that acquiescence under insult is not the way to escape war. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. ~ Wendell Phillips

Even God lends a hand to honest boldness. ~ Meander









Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier. ~ Samuel Johnson

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

Everything which the enemy least expects will succeed the best. ~ Frederick II of Prussia

Fate only picks on the cowards and quitters,
So give ‘em both barrels – and aim for the eyes. ~ Grantland Rice

Fear Not. ~ Gen. LXII:23

Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory. ~ Cervantes

Fortune favors the brave. ~ Terence

Freedom exists only where the people take care of the government. ~ Woodrow Wilson

Freedom is never free!

Give me liberty, or give me death. ~ Patrick Henry

Give obedience where ‘tis truly owed. ~ Shakespeare

Give to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself. ~ R.G. Ingersoll

Glory is the true and honorable recompense of gallant actions. ~ Le Sage

He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

He loves his country best who strives to make it best. ~ R.G. Ingersoll

Her serves me most, who serves his country best. ~ Homer

He that respects himself is safe from others. ~ Longfellow

He who commands the sea has command of everything. ~ Themistocles

He, who is not prepared today, will be less so tomorrow. ~ Ovid

He, who loves not his country, can love nothing. ~ Byron

He who would save liberty must put his trust in democracy. ~ Norman Thomas

Health and good estate of body are above all gold, and a strong body above infinite wealth.

Heroism feels and never reasons and therefore is always right. ~ Emerson

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.~ Abraham Lincoln

I believe in Democracy because it releases the energies of every human being. ~ Woodrow Wilson

I get ahead by fighting hard,
But fighting keeps my spirit strong. ~ S.E. Kiser

I have not yet begun to fight. ~ John Paul Jones

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. ~ Nathan Hale

I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer. ~ U.S. Grant

I speak the password primeval; I give the sign of democracy. ~ Walt Whitman

Ideals are the world’s masters. ~ J.G. Holland

If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr

If we must fall, we should boldly meet our fate. ~Tacitus
In a democracy only will the freeman of nature design to dwell. ~ Plato

In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
But westward, look, the land is bright. ~ Arthur Hugh Clough

In peace nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility; but when the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the action of the tiger; stiffen the sinews, disguise fair nature with hard favour'd rage. . ~ William Shakespeare

Independence now and Independence Forever! ~ Daniel Webster

Inflexible in faith, invincible in arms. ~ James Beattie

It ain’t the individual, nor the army as a whole,
But the everlasting team-work of every bloomin’ soul. ~ J. Mason Know

It is fatal to enter a war without the will to win it. ~ General Douglas MacArthur

It is for us and our time…to say the right makes might. ~ Abraham Lincoln

It is not an army that we must train for war; it is a nation. ~ Woodrow Wilson

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belong to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again. Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause. Who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

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 has given 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 protestor to burn the flag. ~ Father Dennis Edward O'Brian, USMC

Just draw on your grit; it’s so easy to quit –
It’s the keeping your chin up that’s hard. ~ Robert W. Service

Keep conscience clear, then never fear. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Learn to obey before you command. ~ Solon

Let brotherly love continue.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty. ~ John F. Kennedy

Let it be your pride to show all men everywhere not only what good soldiers you are, but also what good men you are. ~ Woodrow Wilson

Let our object be our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country. ~ Daniel Webster

Let us do what honor demands. ~ Racine

Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable. ~ Daniel Webster

Liberty means responsibility. ~ George B. Shaw

Loyalty is the holiest good in the human heart. ~ Seneca

Men of thought and men of action,
Clear the Way! ~ Charles Mackay

Men ought always to pray and not to faint.

Millions for defense but not a cent for tribute. ~ Robert G. Harper

Muster your wits: stand in your own defense. ~ Shakespeare

Never give in - never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. ~ Winston Churchill

Never in the face of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few. ~ Winston Churchill

No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his body, to risk his well being, to risk his life, in a great cause. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

No phase of life, whether public or private, can be free from duty. ~ Cicero

Nothing is impossible to a valiant heart. ~ Henry IV

O America! Because you build for mankind I build for you. ~ Walt Whitman

Obedience alone gives the right to command. ~ Emerson

One brave deed makes no hero. ~ Whittier

Only be thou strong and very courageous.

Only free peoples can hold their purpose and their honor steady to a common end. ~ Woodrow Wilson

Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong! ~ Decatur

Our country is the common parent of all. ~ Cicero

Paddle your own canoe. ~ F. Marryat

Patriotism is a lively sense of collective responsibility. ~ Richard Aldington

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

Personality can open doors, but only character can keep them open. ~ Elmer G. Letterman

Pray devoutly, but hammer stoutly. ~ John Ray

Pray not for things but for wisdom and courage.

Presence of mind and courage in distress,
Are more than arrives to procure success? ~ Dryden

Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. ~ Inscription on the Liberty Bell

Remember this – that very little is needed to make a happy life. ~ Marcus Aurelius

Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Righteousness exalteth a nation. ~ Proverbs XIV:34

Safeguard the health of both body and soul. ~ Cleobulus

Si vis pacem, para bellum. (If you want peace, prepare for war.)

Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears. ~ Benjamin Franklin

So fight I, not as one that beateth the air.

Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us. ~ Winston Churchill

Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go; keep her; for she is thy life.

That government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. ~ Abraham Lincoln

The cause of freedom is the cause of God. ~ W.L. Bowles

The cement of this Union is the heart blood of every American. ~ Thomas Jefferson

The characteristic of a genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have resolved to be great, abide by yourself, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be common, nor the common heroic. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The chief bond of the soldier is his oath of allegiance and love for the flag. ~ Seneca

The Coward Dies 1,000 Deaths, The Brave Man But One

The fight is over when the enemy is down.

The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight. ~ Theodora Roosevelt

The Government of the United States is a device for maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the people. ~ Calvin Coolidge

The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory. ~ Cicero

The human race is in the best condition when it has the greatest degree of liberty. ~ Dante
The less there is of fear, the less there is of danger. ~ Livy

The man-at-arms is the only man. ~ Ibsen

The memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example is the legacy of heros. ~ Disraeli

The most important qualification of a soldier is fortitude under fatigue and privation. Courage is only second; hardship, poverty and want are the best school for a soldier. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

The nation’s honor is dearer than the nation’s comfort. ~ Wilson

The Price of Freedom isn't Free. It is paid for with the Sweat, Blood, and Tears of Heroes.

The right is more precious than peace. ~ Woodrow Wilson

The roll of honor consists of the names of meant who have squared their conduct by ideals of duty. ~ Woodrow Wilson

THE SOLDIER'S PRAYER
And When He Gets To HeavenTo Saint Peter He Will Tell,One More Marine Reporting, SirI've Served My Time In Hell.
- Marine Grave inscription, Guadalcanal, 1942


The sound body is a product of the sound mind. ~ G.B. Shaw

The United States is the only country with a known birthday. ~ James G. Blaine

The world was never more unsafe for democracy then it is today. ~ Stanley Baldwin

There are no points of the compass on the chart of true patriotism. ~ Robert C. Winthrop

There is a difference between interest and committment..When you are interested in doing soemthing,you do it only when circumstances permit....When you are committed to something you accept no excuses only results !!

There is no limit to the noble aspirations which the words “my country” may evoke. ~ Dean W.R. Inge

There is no record in the history of a nation that ever gained anything valuable by being unable to defend itself. ~ H.L. Mencken

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. ~ Elie Wiesel

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. ~ Thomas Paine

These things we do that others may live. ~ USAF Pararescue

They can conquer who believe they can. ~ Emerson

They never sought in vain that sought the Lord alright! ~ R. Burns

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." ~ Elmer Davis

Those who would sacrifice freedom for security shall not have, nor do they deserve either one. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Thunder on! Stride on! Democracy.
Strike with vengeful stroke! ~ Walt Whitman

Thy honor, thy name and thy praises shall endure forever. ~ Virgil

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. ~ George Washington

To dare, and again dare, and forever dare! ~ Danton

To God, thy country, and thy friend be true. ~ Henry Vaughan

To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield. ~ Alfred Tennyson

Tyranny is for the worst of treasons. ~ Byron

Uncommon valor was a common virtue. ~ Admiral Chester Nimitz

Valor is the soldier’s adornment. ~ Livy

Victory is a thing of the will. ~ Marshal Foch

War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

We give up the fort when there’s not a man left to defend it. ~ Captain George Croghan

We have met the enemy and they are ours. ~ Oliver H. Perry

We have room for but one loyalty, loyalty to the United States. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

We have room in this country for but one flag, the Stars and Stripes! ~ Theodore Roosevelt

We make war that we may live in peace. ~ Aristotle

We must meet our duty and convince the world that we are just friends and brave enemies. ~ Thomas Jefferson

What bosom beast not in his country’s cause? ~ Alexander Pope

What can alone ennoble fight? A noble cause! ~ Thomas Campbell;

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

When cities burn and armies turn and flee in disarray, cowards will cry: 'Tis best to fly, and fight another day'. But warriors know in their marrow, When they die and fall, 'tis best to have fought and lost than not to have fought at all.

When duty whispers low, Thou must,
The youth replies, I can. ~ Emerson

When faith is lost, when honor dies,
The man is dead! ~ Whittier

When war does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard. ~ General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen. ~ George Washington

When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.

When you're down to nothing, God is up to something. The faithful see the invisible, believe the incredible and then receive the impossible.

Where liberty dwells there is my country. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Where there is unity there is always victory. ~ Syrus

While I can run, I'll run; while I can walk, I'll walk; when I can only crawl, I'll crawl. But by the grace of God, I'll always be moving forward. ~ Cavett Robert

Who Dares, Wins. Who Sweats, Wins. Who Plans, Wins. ~ British Special Air Service

Who hath not served can not command. ~ John Florio

With firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Worse than war is the fear of war. ~ Seneca

Worth, courage, honor, these indeed
Your sustenance and birthright are. ~ E.C. Stedman

Yea, though I walk through the 'Valley of the Shadow of Death'. I shall fear no evil. For it is I, that is the evilest bastard in the valley. My gun and my bayonet, they comfort me. I fear no one, I let them fear me. My fighting spirit runneth over!

You don’t get very far in life without having to be brave an awful lot. Because we all have our frightening moments and difficult trials and we don’t have much of a choice but to get through ‘em, and it takes a lot of bravery to do that. The most important thing about bravery is this — It’s not about not being scared — it’s about being scared and doing it anyway — that’s bravery. ~ Ysabella Brave