Top 100 Quotes About Robert E Lee
#1. Robert E. Lee Prewitt. Isn't that a silly old name.
Donna Reed
#2. It is good that war is so terrible, or we should become too fond of it
Robert E. Lee
Greg Seeley
#3. have got Lee just where I want him; he must fight me on my own ground." So he waited to see what would happen - which was usually a fatal thing to do in the vicinity of Robert E. Lee.
Allen C. Guelzo
#4. In her opinion, Alexander Graham Bell and Clarence Birdseye are the two greatest Americans that ever lived excluding Robert E. Lee. She believes we never lost the War Between the States, that General Lee thought General Grant was the butler and just naturally handed him his sword.
Fannie Flagg
#5. He (recently-appointed and new-to-command Robert E Lee) will be timid in the irresolute in action.
George B. McClellan
#6. The venerable Robert E. Lee has taken some vicious hits, as dishonest or misinformed advocates among political interest groups and in academia attempt to twist yesterday's America into a fantasy that might better service the political issues of today.
Jim Webb
#7. Notwithstanding our boastful assertions to the world, for nearly a century, that our government was based on the consent of the people, it rests upon force, as much as any government that ever existed. - Robert E. Lee
William C. Davis
#8. Out of the blue, he kissed me. Right in the middle of the Robert E. Lee Hotel Restaurant, he kissed me so slowly with an open mouth and every single thing in my body-my skin, my collarbone, the hollow backs of my knees, everything inside of me filled up with light.
Kathryn Stockett
#9. I think [Robert E.] Lee should have been hanged. It was all the worse that he was a good man, had a good character, and acted conscientiously. It's always the good men who do the most harm.
Henry Adams
#10. Sir, if you ever presume again to speak disrespectfully of General Grant in my presence, either you or I will sever his connection with this university.
Robert E.Lee
#11. We poor sinners need to come back from our wanderings to seek pardon through the all-sufficient merits of our Redeemer. And we need to pray earnestly for the power of the Holy Spirit to give us a precious revival in our hearts and among the unconverted.
Robert E.Lee
#12. Our country demands all our strength, all our energies. To resist the powerful combination now forming against us will require every man at his place. If victorious, we will have everything to hope for in the future. If defeated, nothing will be left for us to live for.
Robert E.Lee
#13. With all my devotion to the Union, and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relative, my children, my home. I have, therefore, resigned my commission in the Army ...
Robert E.Lee
#14. What a glorious world Almighty God has given us. How thankless and ungrateful we are, and how we labor to mar his gifts.
Robert E.Lee
#15. You see what a poor sinner I am, and how unworthy to possess what was given me; for that reason it has been taken away.
Robert E.Lee
#16. There is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths.
Robert E.Lee
#17. I would rather die a thousand deaths than surrender.
Robert E.Lee
#18. It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.
Robert E.Lee
#19. I endeavored to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for all his mercies to me, for his preservation of me through all the dangers I have passed, and all the blessings which he has bestowed upon me, for I know I fall far short of my obligations
Robert E.Lee
#20. I pray that on this day [Christmas] when only peace and good-will are preached to mankind, better thoughts may fill the hearts of our enemies and turn them to peace.
Robert E.Lee
#21. I am as willing to serve now as in the beginning in any capacity and at any post where I can do good. The lower the position, the more suitable to my ability and the more agreeable to my feelings.
Robert E.Lee
#22. What a beautiful world God, in His loving kindness to His creatures, has given us! What a shame that men endowed with reason and knowledge of right should mar His gifts ...
Robert E.Lee
#23. I can only say that I am nothing but a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone for salvation.
Robert E.Lee
#25. Such an executive officer the sun never shone on. I have but to show him my design, and I know that it can be done, it will be done ... Straight as the needle to the pole he advanced to the execution of my purpose.
Robert E.Lee
#26. The framers of our Constitution never exhausted so much labor, wisdom and forbearance in its formation if it was intended to be broken up by every member.
Robert E.Lee
#27. Never do a wrong thing to make a friend
or to keep one.
Robert E.Lee
#28. Let danger never turn you aside from the pursuit of honor or the service to your country ... Know that death is inevitable and the fame of virtue is immortal
Robert E.Lee
#29. General Longstreet,when once in a fight, was a most brilliant soldier; but he was the hardest man to move I had in my army.
Robert E.Lee
#30. I will attack no matter what and win the war!
Robert E.Lee
#31. Richmond's newspaper questioned how a senior general could not even get two of his own generals to cooperate with him. They nicknamed him "Granny" Lee or "The King Of Spades," because he insisted that his men dig trenches on Sewell Mountain.
Clint Johnson
#32. We must ... submit ourselves in adversity to the will of a merciful God as cheerfully as in prosperity.
Robert E.Lee
#33. A Union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets has no charm for me. If the Union is dissolved and government disrupted, I shall return to my native state and share the miseries of my people, and save in defense will draw my sword on none.
Robert E.Lee
#34. A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.
Robert E.Lee
#35. The war ... was an unnecessary condition of affairs, and might have been avoided if forebearance and wisdom had been practiced on both sides.
Robert E.Lee
#36. Remember, we are all one country now. Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and bring them up to be Americans.
Robert E.Lee
#37. I have fought against the people of the North because I believed they were seeking to wrest from the South its dearest rights. But I have never cherished toward them bitter or vindictive feelings, and I have never seen the day when I did not pray for them.
Robert E.Lee
#38. A man may manifest and communicate his joy, but he should conceal and smother his grief as much as possible.
Robert E.Lee
#39. I believe it to be the duty of everyone to unite in the restoration of the country and the reestablishment of peace and harmony.
Robert E.Lee
#40. Death, in its silent sure march is fast gathering those whom I have longest loved, so that when he shall knock at my door, I will more willingly follow.
Robert E.Lee
#41. We must enlist our own snake and strike like a cobra against their vitals with an attack on Washington.
Robert E.Lee
#43. There is a terrible war coming, and these young men who have never seen war cannot wait for it to happen, but I tell you, I wish that I owned every slave in the South, for I would free them all to avoid this war.
Robert E.Lee
#44. The education of a man is never completed until he dies.
Robert E.Lee
#45. You must study to be frank with the world: Frankness is the child of honesty and courage.
Robert E.Lee
#46. Marry ... into a family that will enable your children to feel proud of both sides of the house.
Robert E.Lee
#47. As a general principle you should not force young men to do their duty, but let them do it voluntarily and thereby develop their characters.
Robert E.Lee
#48. I should NOT be trading on the blood of my men.
Robert E.Lee
#49. My chief concern is to try to be an humble, earnest Christian.
Robert E.Lee
#50. If a friend asks a favor, you should grant it if it is reasonable; if not, tell him plainly why you cannot: You will wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind.
Robert E.Lee
#51. My trust is in the mercy and wisdom of a kind Providence, who ordereth all things for our good.
Robert E.Lee
#52. Go home all you boys who fought with me and help build up the shattered fortunes of our old state
Robert E.Lee
#53. It is good that war is so horrible, or we might grow to like it.
Robert E.Lee
#54. I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.
Robert E.Lee
#55. It is easier to make our wishes conform to our means than to make our means conform to our wishes.
Robert E.Lee
#56. We made a great mistake in the beginning of our struggle, and I fear, in spite of all we can do, it will prove to be a fatal mistake. We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and all our best generals to edit the newspapers
Robert E.Lee
#57. What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.
Robert E.Lee
#58. Life Insurance trusts I consider sacred. To hazard the property of the dead & to lose the scanty earnings of fathers & husbands, who have toiled & saved that they may leave something to their families deprived of their care & the support of their labour, is to my mind the worst of crimes.
Robert E.Lee
#59. You must be careful how you walk and where you go, for there are those following you who will set their feet where yours are set.
Robert E.Lee
#60. It is glorious to see such courage in one so young.
Robert E.Lee
#61. What a cruel thing war is ... to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors.
Robert E.Lee
#62. There is a true glory and a true honor: the glory of duty done
the honor of the integrity of principle.
Robert E.Lee
#63. We have but one rule here, and that is that every student must be a gentleman.
Robert E.Lee
#64. True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another, and the motive which impels them the desire to do right is precisely the same.
Robert E.Lee
#65. Say just what you mean to do on every occasion, and take it for granted you mean to do right.
Robert E.Lee
#66. Postal officials say that before Christmas they receive tons of letters written to Santa Claus, but after Christmas how few letters of thanks are sent to him! From childhood onward, human beings seem to be characterized by thanklessness.
Robert E.Lee
#67. I believe I may so, looking into my own heart, and speaking as in the presence of God, that I have never know one moment of bitterness or resentment.
Robert E.Lee
#68. You have only always to do what is right. It will become easier by practice, and you enjoy in the midst of your trials the pleasure of an approving conscience.
Robert E.Lee
#69. All military history records the triumphs of discipline and courage far more frequently than numbers and resources.
Robert E.Lee
#70. We should live, act, and say nothing to the injury of anyone. It is not only best as a matter of principle, but it is the path to peace and honor.
Robert E.Lee
#71. There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil.
Robert E.Lee
#72. We have only one rule here - to act like a gentleman at all times.
Robert E.Lee
#73. Keep steady in the view of the great principles for which you contend. The safety of your homes and the lives of all you hold dear depend upon your courage and exertions. Let each man resolve to be victorious, and that the right of self government, liberty and peace shall find him a defender.
Robert E.Lee
#74. If we do not do this our churches will lighthouses without light, wells without water, dumb witnesses, sleeping watchmen, silent trumpets, messengers without tidings, a comfort for infidels, jubilant joys to the devil, and an offense to God.
Robert E.Lee
#76. Duty is the sublimest work in the English language.
Robert E.Lee
#78. There is always hazard in military activity, but we must decide between the positive loss of inactivity and the risk of action.
Robert E.Lee
#79. There are things in the Old Book which I may not be able to explain, but I fully accept it as the infallible Word of God, and receive its teachings as inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Robert E.Lee
#80. Do your duty in all things, like the old Puritan. You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less.
Robert E.Lee
#81. Abandon your animosities and make your sons Americans!
Robert E.Lee
#82. A land without memories is a people without liberty.
Robert E.Lee
#83. I have been up too congress, and they do not seem to do anything except eat peanuts and chew tobacco while my army is starving ...
Robert E.Lee
#84. We must forgive our enemies. I can truly say that not a day has passed since the war began that I have not prayed for them.
Robert E.Lee
#85. All I ever wanted was a Virginia farm, no end of cream and fresh butter and fried chicken - not one fried chicken, or two, but unlimited fried chicken.
Robert E.Lee
#87. A young women asked Lee what he would do. Lee replied, "I shall welcome him into my home, show him all the courtesy which is due from one gentlemen to another, and try to do everything in my power to make his stay agreeable.
Clint Johnson
#88. All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government as originally organized should be administered in purity and truth.
Robert E.Lee
#89. My experience through life has convinced me that, while moderation and temperance in all things are commendable and beneficial, abstinence from spirituous liquors is the best safeguard of morals and health.
Robert E.Lee
#90. No day should be lived unless it was begun with a prayer of thankfulness and an intercession for guidance.
Robert E.Lee
#91. We failed, but in the good providence of God apparent failure often proves a blessing.
Robert E.Lee
#92. Private and public life are subject to the same rules-truth and manliness are two qualities that will carry you through this world much better than policy or tact of expediency or other words that were devised to conceal a deviation from a straight line.
Robert E.Lee
#93. We must look to the rising generation for the restoration of the country.
Robert E.Lee
#94. But what a cruel thing is war to separate and destroy families and friends.
Robert E.Lee
#95. I like whiskey. I always did, and that is why I never drink it.
Robert E.Lee
#96. Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly, to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret.
Robert E.Lee
#97. Read history, works of truth, not novels and romances
Robert E.Lee
#98. The enemy is here, and if we do not whip him, he will whip us.
Robert E.Lee
#99. Cadets can neither be treated as schoolboys or soldiers.
Robert E.Lee
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