Anchors Aweigh: A Powerful Collection of Inspiring Navy Quotes

"The battle of Iwo Island [Jima] has been won. The United States Marines, by their individual and collective courage, have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat.... Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue."

- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

"Don't give up the ship!"

- Captain James Lawrence

"Do today what others won’t, so tomorrow you can do what others can’t."

- Navy SEAL saying

"“Don’t give up the ship!”"

- Captain James Lawrence

"I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: ‘I served in the United States Navy.’"

- President John F. Kennedy

"I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.'"

- President John F. Kennedy

"There's a storm inside of us, a burning river, a drive. You push yourself further than anyone could think possible. You are never out of the fight."

- Marcus Luttrell

"Damn the torpedoes, Full speed ahead!"

- Admiral David Glasgow Farragut

"Take her down!"

- Commander Howard Walter Gilmore

"For in this modern world, the instruments of warfare are not solely for waging war. Far more importantly, they are the means for controlling peace. Naval officers must therefore understand not only how to fight a war, but how to use the tremendous power which they operate to sustain a world of liberty and justice, without unleashing the powerful instruments of destruction and chaos that they have at their command."

- Admiral Arleigh Burke

"Events of October 1962 indicated, as they had all through history, that control of the sea means security. Control of the seas can mean peace. Control of the seas can mean victory. The United States must control the seas if it is to protect your security…"

- President John F. Kennedy

"Be someone special."

- Navy SEAL saying

"We have met the enemy and they are ours…"

- Oliver Hazard Perry

"Stay in your three-foot world."

- Mark Owen

"I have not yet begun to fight!"

- John Paul Jones

"“I have not yet begun to fight!”"

- Captain John Paul Jones

"I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way."

- John Paul Jones

"I wish to have no Connection with any Ship that does not Sail fast for I intend to go in harm's way."

- Captain John Paul Jones

"I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy."

- John F. Kennedy

"There are no extraordinary men... just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with."

- William Halsey

"When asked what I am most proud of, I stick out my chest, hold my head high and state proudly, 'I served in the United States Navy!'"

- John F. Kennedy

"A powerful Navy we have always regarded as our proper and natural means of defense; and it has always been of defense that we have thought, never of aggression or of conquest. But who shall tell us now what sort of Navy to build? We shall take leave to be strong upon the seas, in the future as in the past; and there will be no thought of offense or provocation in that. Our ships are our natural bulwarks."

- President Woodrow Wilson

"The Navy has both a tradition and a future ─ and we look with pride and confidence in both directions."

- Admiral George Anderson

"It follows than as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious."

- President George Washington

"We have met the enemy and they are ours..."

- Oliver Hazard Perry

"“I wish to have no Connection with any Ship that does not Sail fast for I intend to go in harm’s way.”"

- Captain John Paul Jones

"“We have met the enemy and they are ours…”"

- Oliver Hazard Perry

"“I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: ‘I served in the United States Navy.’”"

- President John F. Kennedy

"Wherever you are or whatever your job, don't be confused or diverted by false priorities. We have only one mission to perform-that is to fight and win. And, we must do it better than anyone else in the world."

- Leslie E. Brown

"You may fire when you are ready Gridley."

- Commodore George Dewey

"It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy so that it will not be fought on U.S. soil."

- Chester W. Nimitz

"It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious."

- President George Washington

"This ship is built to fight. You had better know how."

- Arleigh Burke

"“It follows then, as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it, everything honorable and glorious.”"

- President George Washington

"WHY NOT?"

- Admiral Hyman Rickover

"I've received many honors and I'm grateful for them; but I've already received the highest award I'll ever receive, and that has been the privilege and honor of serving very proudly in the United States Navy."

- Grace Hopper

"...without a Respectable Navy, Alas America!"

- Captain John Paul Jones

"We few. We happy few. We band of brothers, for he today That sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother."

- William Shakespeare

"The Navy is much more than a job; much more than service to country. It is a way of life. It gets in your blood."

- Albert F. Pratt

"Without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive."

- George Washington

"“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in combat.”"

- General Norman Schwarzkopf

"“Don’t back down from the sharks.”"

- Admiral William H. McRaven

"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!"

- Leutenant Howell Maurice Forgy (USN)

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Today at Pearl Harbor, veterans are gathering to pay tribute to the young men they remember who never escaped the sunken ships. And over the years, some Pearl Harbor veterans have made a last request. They ask that their ashes be brought down and placed inside the USS Arizona. After the long lives given them, they wanted to rest besides the best men they ever knew. Such loyalty and love remain the greatest strength of the United States Navy."

- George W. Bush

"There's this misconception that the Navy is this cruise ship, and you get to go out and sail around, and every now and then, you have to swab the deck. But, no, it is a very impressive group of young people that live at sea, in this place that's very uncomfortable. They exude a pride that is well-deserved."

- Tom Hanks

"“A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace.”"

- President Theodore Roosevelt

"The United States Navy carries the might and the mission of America to the farthest parts of the world."

- George W. Bush

"Whoever commands the sea, commands the trade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself."

- Walter Raleigh

"And the winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators."

- Edward Gibbon

"A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace."

- President Theodore Roosevelt

"Sighted Sub, Sank Same."

- AMM 1/c Donald Francis Mason

"The Marine Corps is the Navy's police force and as long as I am President that is what it will remain. They have a propaganda machine that is almost equal to Stalin's."

- President Harry S Truman

"“You may fire when you are ready Gridley.”"

- Commodore George Dewey

"“Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!”"

- Lieutenant Howell Maurice Forgy, USN (ChC)

"“Sing when you’re up to your neck in mud.”"

- Admiral William H. McRaven

"The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten."

- Calvin Coolidge

"When I lost my rifle, the Army charged me 85 dollars. That is why in the Navy the Captain goes down with the ship."

- Dick Gregory

"There is nothing more enticing, disenchanting, and enslaving than the life at sea."

- Joseph Conrad

"The wonder is always new that any sane man can be a sailor."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Baseball in the Navy always was much more fun than it had been in the major leagues."

- Pitcher Bob Feller

"“Pain is weakness leaving the body.”"

"“Embrace the Suck.”"

"“Under pressure, you don’t rise to the occasion; you sink to the level of your training.”"

"“Get comfortable being uncomfortable.”"

"“The only easy day was yesterday.”"

"“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.”"

"“It pays to be a winner.”"

"“Move, shoot, communicate.”"

"“If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.”"