Memorial Day Quotes

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

Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life.

Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.

All that was required of them (i.e. the brain-washed masses) was a primitive patriotism which could be appealed to whenever it was necessary to make them accept longer working hours or shorter rations. And even when they became discontented, as they sometimes did, their discontent led nowhere, because, being without general ideas, they could only focus it on petty specific grievances. The larger evils invariably escaped their notice.

Four things support the world: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valor of the brave

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.

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 the success of liberty.

Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.

True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.

We cherish too, the Poppy red That grows on fields where valor led, It seems to signal to the skies That blood of heroes never dies.

Only the dead have seen the end of war.

Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and undivided republic.

The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we - in a less final, less heroic way - be willing to give of ourselves.

The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

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.

When this war is over, the Japanese language will be spoken only in hell!

The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.

Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Freedom lies in being bold.

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.

The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men.

As a 22-year Army Veteran who served in Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, and as a Civilian Advisor to the Afghan Army in Operation Enduring Freedom, I understand both the gravity of giving the order, and the challenge of carrying it out.

Caged birds accept each other, but flight is what they long for.

In valor there is hope.

Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong.

God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.

Memorial Day will be celebrated ... by the usual betrayal of the dead, by the hypocritical patriotism of the politicians and contractors preparing for more wars, more graves to receive more flowers on future Memorial Days. The memory of the dead deserves a different dedication. To peace, to defiance of governments.

A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer.

These fallen heroes represent the character of a nation who has a long history of patriotism and honor - and a nation who has fought many battles to keep our country free from threats of terror.

I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace.

Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong.

Real heroes are men who fall and fail and are flawed, but win out in the end because they've stayed true to their ideals and beliefs and commitments.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.

Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay, but we can honor their sacrifice.

Anyone who does anything to help a child in his life is a hero to me.

The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.

The highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance of official policy, but a love of one's country deep enough to call her to a higher plain.

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.

Green sods are all their monument; and yet it tells A nobler history than pillared piles, Or the eternal pyramids.

My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place - police, firefighters and members of our armed forces.

The best road to progress is freedom's road.

137 years later, Memorial Day remains one of America's most cherished patriotic observances. The spirit of this day has not changed - it remains a day to honor those who died defending our freedom and democracy.

The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree.

We have met the enemy and they are ours.

The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.

I have not yet begun to fight!