Inspiring Quotes to Honor Our Veterans This Veterans Day

"Scared is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing."

- Emma Donoghue

"Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be."

- General Douglas MacArthur

"And we must never forget that it is the mighty arm of the American warrior — never bending, never breaking, never yielding — generation after generation that secured for us the blessings of a nation that still stands today as the beacon of liberty, democracy, and justice around the world."

- Joe Biden

"Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war."

- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"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

"There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism."

- Alexander Hamilton

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."

- General George S. Patton

"It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle."

- General Norman Schwarzkopf

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

- Billy Graham

"The valor and courage of our young women and men in the armed services are a shining example to all of the world, and we owe them and their families our deepest respect."

- Bill Frist

"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."

- Arthur Ashe

"How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!"

- Maya Angelou

"Americans should always honor our veterans. At this moment, we especially need the example of their character. And we need a new generation to set examples of its own, examples in service and sacrifice and courage. These veterans have shaped our history, and with their values, your generation will help guide our future."

- George W. Bush

"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."

- Sidney Sheldon

"It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle."

- H. Norman Schwarzkopf

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

- Ronald Reagan

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."

- Nelson Mandela

"Whenever the world makes you cynical; whenever you seek true humility, and true selflessness — look to a veteran."

- Barack Obama

"This will remain the land of the free so long as it is the home of the brave."

- Elmer Davis

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

- General Omar Bradley

"No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks."

- James Allen

"I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American."

- Daniel Webster

"Let me ask you, sir, when is the time for brave men to exert themselves in the cause of liberty and their country, if this is not?"

- George Washington

"He who is brave is free."

- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form or a readiness to die."

- G.K. Chesterton

"When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death — that is heroism."

- Robert Green Ingersoll

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

- Elmer Davis

"America’s veterans have served their country with the belief that democracy and freedom are ideals to be upheld around the world."

- John Doolittle

"Every post is honorable in which a man can serve his country."

- George Washington

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid."

- Col. David Hackworth

"The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave."

- Patrick Henry

"Never was so much owed by so many to so few."

- Winston Churchill

"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles."

- Christopher Reeve

"Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."

- John F. Kennedy

"We’re blessed with the opportunity to stand for something — for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to. And we have good reason to be hopeful and optimistic."

- Ronald Reagan

"America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand."

- Harry Truman

"Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just one step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. As a nation, let it be our pledge that when they return home, we leave no veteran behind."

- Dan Lipinski

"The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

- Abraham Lincoln

"Honoring the sacrifices many have made for our country in the name of freedom and democracy is the very foundation of Veterans Day."

- Charles B. Rangel

"Soldiers, when committed to a task, can’t compromise. It’s unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until it’s been done."

- John Keegan

"If the only prayer you said was ‘thank you,’ that would be enough."

- Meister Eckhart

"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

- Winston Churchill

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."

- John F. Kennedy

"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

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

- Benjamin Disraeli

"We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."

- William Shakespeare

"Valor is a gift. Those having it never know for sure whether they have it till the test comes. And those having it in one test never know for sure if they will have it when the next test comes."

- Napoleon Bonaparte

"The secret of happiness is freedom, the secret of freedom is courage."

- Carrie Jones

"When duty calls, that is when character counts."

- William Safire

"May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please but as the opportunity to do what is right."

- Peter Marshall

"The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."

- Douglas MacArthur

"Brave men are all vertebrates; they have their softness on the surface and their toughness in the middle."

- Gilbert K. Chesterton

"Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go."

- Bernard Malamud

"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

"If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

- Nathan Hale

"Fortune favors the brave."

- Virgil

"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."

- Michael N. Castle

"There is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer."

- General Jimmy Doolittle

"Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

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

- Elmer Davis

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

- Winston Churchill

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."

- G.K. Chesterton

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear."

- Mark Twain

"The soldier's heart, the soldier's spirit, the soldier's soul, are everything."

- George Marshall

"Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause."

- Abraham Lincoln

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory."

- Woodrow Wilson

"The person you pass as you walk down the street might not be wearing our nation’s uniform today. But consider for a moment that a year or a decade or a generation ago, he or she might have been one of our fellow citizens who was willing to lay down their life for strangers like us."

- Barack Obama

"Our veterans represent the best of America. You are the very spine of America, not just the backbone. You’re the spine of this country. And all of us—all of us—owe you."

- Joe Biden

"What veterans have given our country is beyond our power to fully repay, yet, today we recognize our debt to their honor."

- George W. Bush

"We owe each of you that have served a lifelong debt of gratitude. The cause you pursued at the call of duty is the noblest America has to offer."

- George W. Bush

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them."

- John F. Kennedy

"I respect every soldier, from every country, who serves beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful, and America will not forget."

- George W. Bush

"On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free."

- Dan Lipinski

"The heroes are those who make peace and build."

- Nelson Mandela

"America’s Veterans have served their country with the belief that democracy and freedom are ideals to be upheld around the world."

- John Doolittle

"Our Veterans accepted the responsibility to defend America and uphold our values when duty called."

- Bill Shuster

"The willingness of America's veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude."

- Jeff Miller

"Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"You have shielded your fellow citizens from danger. You have defended the beliefs of your country and advanced the rights of the downtrodden."

- George W. Bush

"Whenever the world makes you cynical, whenever you seek true humility and true selflessness, look to a veteran."

- Barack Obama

"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself."

- Joseph Campbell

"These are the hidden heroes of a peaceful nation: our colleagues and friends, neighbors and family members who answered the call and returned to live in the land they defended."

- George W. Bush

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country."

- Benjamin Franklin

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

- James Bryce

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

- Minot J. Savage

"Humanity has won its battle. Liberty now has a country."

- Marquis de Lafayette

"It’s an honor that not only a small percentage of Americans can claim, and one that marks those who are able to claim it as brothers and sisters. It’s a badge of courage that unites across all ages, regardless of background—because to be a veteran is to have endured and survived challenges most Americans will never know."

- Joe Biden

"Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will be America’s heart, her benedictions and her prayers be."

- John Quincy Adams

"To all the mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, spouses—all those who stand alongside our veterans—and their families, caregivers, survivors: You are the solid steel spine that bears up under every burden, the courageous heart that rises to every challenge."

- Joe Biden

"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

"One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, one Nation, evermore!"

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"America without her soldiers would be like God without his angels."

- Claudia Pemberton

"This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans."

- Thomas M. Smith

"National honor is the national property of the highest value."

- James Monroe

"The young patriots now returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other deployments worldwide are joining the ranks of veterans to whom America owes an immense debt of gratitude."

- Steve Buyer

"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

"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

"Their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored."

- Daniel Webster

"On thy grave the rain shall fall from the eyes of a mighty nation!"

- Thomas William Parsons

"The patriot’s blood is the seed of freedom’s tree."

- Thomas Campbell

"I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot."

- Gary Hart

"Freedom is never free."

"We don’t know them all, but we owe them all."