Memorial Day Inspirational Quotes: A Heartfelt Collection to Honor Our Heroes

"No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation."

- General Douglas MacArthur

"Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory there would be no civilization, no future."

- Elie Wiesel

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

- Joseph Rodman Drake

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

- G.K. Chesterton

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

- John F. Kennedy

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

- Joseph Campbell

"I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism."

- Bob Riley

"Ceremonies are important. But our gratitude has to be more than visits to the troops, and once-a-year Memorial Day ceremonies. We honor the dead best by treating the living well."

- Jennifer M. Granholm

"Let their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored."

- Daniel Webster

"Who kept the faith and fought the fight; The glory theirs, the duty ours."

- Wallace Bruce

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

- Minot J. Savage

"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."

- Norman Schwarzkopf

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

- Winston Churchill

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

"Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay."

- Barack Obama

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We did not pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

- Ronald Reagan

"I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it's marked by the blood of those who died defending it."

- John Thune

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

- Benjamin Disraeli

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

- Jeff Miller

"Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

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

- George S. Patton

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

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue."

- James A. Garfield

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

- Claudia Pemberton

"Veterans are a symbol of what makes our nation great, and we must never forget all they have done to ensure our freedom."

- Rodney Frelinghuysen

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

- John F. Kennedy

"What I can do for my country, I am willing to do."

- Christopher Gadsen

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

- James Allen

"There is nothing nobler than risking your life for your country."

- Nick Lampson

"Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives."

- John Adams

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

- Elmer Davis

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

- Thomas Campbell

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

- Nathan Hale

"Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."

- Adlai E. Stevenson II

"And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me."

- Lee Greenwood

"This is the day we pay homage to all those who didn’t come home. This is not Veterans Day, it’s not a celebration, it is a day of solemn contemplation over the cost of freedom."

- Tamra Bolton

"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

"May we never forget our fallen comrades. Freedom isn't free."

- Sgt. Major Bill Paxton

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

- Winston Churchill

"Memorial Day isn't just about honoring veterans, its honoring those who lost their lives. Veterans had the fortune of coming home. For us, that's a reminder of when we come home we still have a responsibility to serve. It's a continuation of service that honors our country and those who fell defending it."

- Pete Hegseth

"As America celebrates Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who have given their lives in our nation's wars."

- John M. McHugh

"Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion."

- Calvin Coolidge

"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."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand."

- Harry S. Truman

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

- Col. David Hackworth

"Americans may not only pay tribute to our honored dead but also unite in prayer for success in our search for a just and lasting peace."

- John F. Kennedy

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced."

- Abraham Lincoln

"The essence of patriotism lies in a willingness to sacrifice for one’s country, just as true greatness finds expression, not in blessings enjoyed, but in good bestowed."

- William Jennings Bryan

"The way to be patriotic in America is not only to love America, but to love the duty that lies nearest to our hand, and to know that in performing it we are serving our country."

- Woodrow Wilson

"I see that the old flagpole still stands. Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak, and let no enemy ever haul them down."

- Douglas MacArthur

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

- Calvin Coolidge

"In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it."

- Barack Obama

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America."

- William J. Clinton

"Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future."

- Elie Wiesel

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

- G.K. Chesterton

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death."

- Sun Tzu

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

- Benjamin Disraeli

"A man's country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle and patriotism is loyalty to that principle."

- George William Curtis

"Patriotism was a living fire of unquestioned belief and purpose."

- Frank Knox

"True patriotism isn't cheap. It's about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going."

- Robert Reich

"On Memorial Day, I don't want to only remember the combatants. There were also those who came out of the trenches as writers and poets, who started preaching peace, men and women who have made this world a kinder place to live."

- Eric Burdon

"The heroes of Flight 93 won the first battle in the War on Terror, and they should never be forgotten."

- Jim Ramstad

"In remembering those who lost their lives in the London attacks and the September 11th attacks we continue our commitment to fighting for freedom, democracy and justice."

- Doc Hastings

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

- James Bryce

"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism."

- George Washington

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."

- Mark Twain

"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

"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."

- Doc Hastings

"Memorial Day this year is especially important as we are reminded almost daily of the great sacrifices that the men and women of the Armed Services make to defend our way of life."

- Robin Hayes

"The legacy of brave men and women who have fought and died for their country is the freedom we enjoy as Americans."

- Lucian Adams

"Over all our happy country – over all our Nation spread, is a band of noble heroes– is our Army of the Dead."

- Will Carleton

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

- Elmer Davis

"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

"Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world. A veteran does not have that problem."

- Ronald Reagan

"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved."

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"This is the day we pay homage to all those who didn't come home. This is not Veterans Day, it's not a celebration, it is a day of solemn contemplation over the cost of freedom."

- Tamra Bolton

"As we set today aside to honor and thank our veterans, let us be mindful that we should do this every day of the year and not just one."

- Beth Pennington

"And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me."

- Lee Greenwood

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

- Maya Angelou

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

- Jeff Miller

"Think about the past and consider the sacrifices men and women in the military have made for us."

- Gary G. Wetzel

"May we never forget our fallen comrades. Freedom isn’t free."

- Sgt. Maj. Bill Paxton

"He who is brave is free."

- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom."

- Bob Dylan

"On this day, take time to remember those who have fallen. But on every day after, do more; put the freedoms they died for to greater and nobler uses."

- Richelle E. Goodrich

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Liberty is never unalienable; it must be redeemed regularly with the blood of patriots or it always vanishes. Of all the so-called natural human rights that have ever been invented, liberty is least likely to be cheap and is never free of cost."

- Robert A. Heinlein

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

- Daniel Webster

"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

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

- William Safire

"We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage."

- Theodore Roosevelt

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

- Thomas Campbell

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

- George Washington

"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."

- Thomas Campbell

"Without a sign his sword the brave man draws and asks no omen but his country's cause."

- Homer

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

- Daniel Webster

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

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf."

- George Orwell

"We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it."

- William Faulkner

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country."

- Benjamin Franklin

"Here men endured that a nation might live."

- Herbert Hoover

"In the aftermath, we are because they were."

- RJ Heller

"Freely we serve, Because we freely love, as in our will to love or not; in this we stand or fall."

- John Milton

"Liberty is the breath of life to nations."

- George Bernard Shaw

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

- W.E.B. Du Bois

"I got to fight on till I leave here, and I hope I leave some footprints."

- Mattie Jones

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

- Minot J. Savage

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

- Emma Donoghue

"For each thorn, there's a rosebud...For each twilight — a dawn...For each trial — the strength to carry on, For each storm cloud — a rainbow...For each shadow — the sun...For each parting — sweet memories when sorrow is done."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"In valor there is hope."

- Tacitus

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

- Carrie Jones

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

- Winston Churchill

"On what rests the hope of the republic? One country, one language, one flag!"

- Alexander Henry

"Over all our happy country - over all our Nation spread, Is a band of noble heroes - is our Army of the Dead."

- Will Carleton

"There's intense national feeling in America that could be called patriotism."

- Michael Ignatieff

"The average American is nothing if not patriotic."

- Herbert Croly

"America is hope. It is compassion. It is excellence. It is valor."

- Paul Tsongas

"Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it."

- Mark Twain

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

- Michel de Montaigne

"Our own heart, and not other men's opinions, forms our true honor."

- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Courage is found in unlikely places."

- J.R.R. Tolkien

"Be strong. Live honorably and with dignity. When you don’t think you can, hold on."

- James Frey

"Freely we serve, because we freely love, as in our will to love or not; in this we stand or fall."

- John Milton

"For let the gods so speed me, as I love the name of honor more than I fear death."

- Julius Cesar

"Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality."

- Emily Dickinson

"There are no points of the compass on the chart of true patriotism."

- Robert Charles Winthrop

"Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, Blossomed by the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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

- James Baldwin

"Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Who sows virtue reaps honor."

- Leonardo da Vinci

"Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first."

- Charles de Gaulle

"One lives in the hope of becoming a memory."

- Antonio Porchia

"Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own."

- Michelle Obama

"May Heaven be propitious, and smile on the cause of my country."

- Zebulon Pike

"Heroism doesn't always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history."

- Mary Roach

"A man is a patriot if his heart beats true to his country."

- Charles E. Jefferson

"I would rather be remembered by a song than by a victory."

- Alexander Smith

"In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country, can change it."

- Barack Obama

"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth."

- George Washington

"Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better."

- Albert Camus

"Your memory feels like home to me. So whenever my mind wanders, it always finds its way back to you."

- Ranata Suzuki

"So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good."

- Helen Keller

"Man is a military animal, glories in gunpowder, and loves parade."

- Philip James Bailey

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death."

- Sun Tzu

"Heroes never die. They live on in the hearts and minds of those who would follow in their footsteps."

- Emily Potter

"Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness."

"The brave may fall, but never yield."

"Memorial Day: celebrate, honor, remember."

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

"If you want to thank a soldier, be the kind of American worth fighting for."

"Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it."

- Unknown

"May we never forget freedom isn't free."

"To those in uniform serving today and to those who have served in the past, we honor you today and every day."

"Home of the free, because of the brave."