Robert E. Lee Quotations

In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.

It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.

The war... was an unnecessary condition of affairs, and might have been avoided if forebearance and wisdom had been practiced on both sides.

I like whiskey. I always did, and that is why I never drink it.

We have fought this fight as long, and as well as we know how. We have been defeated. For us as a Christian people, there is now but one course to pursue. We must accept the situation.

Obedience to lawful authority is the foundation of manly character.

I think it better to do right, even if we suffer in so doing, than to incur the reproach of our consciences and posterity.

I have been up to see the Congress and they do not seem to be able to do anything except to eat peanuts and chew tobacco, while my army is starving.

The education of a man is never completed until he dies.

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one.

What a cruel thing war is... to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors.

We failed, but in the good providence of God apparent failure often proves a blessing.

A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.

I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.

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.

The trite saying that honesty is the best policy has met with the just criticism that honesty is not policy. The real honest man is honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy.

It is good that war is so horrible, or we might grow to like it.

We must expect reverses, even defeats. They are sent to teach us wisdom and prudence, to call forth greater energies, and to prevent our falling into greater disasters.

I tremble for my country when I hear of confidence expressed in me. I know too well my weakness, that our only hope is in God.

My chief concern is to try to be an humble, earnest Christian.

There are very few nearly perfect plays. 'Streetcar' is one of them,

He loves his sailors, he loves his Navy, no bones about that, ... He never expects anything in return. That's what I love about him.

Whiskey - I like it, I always did, and that is the reason I never use it.

At present, I am not concerned with results. God's will ought to be our aim, and I am quite contented that His designs should be accomplished and not mine.

Duty is the sublimest word in the language. You can never do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less.

Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never wish to do less.

It would appear that General Hooker has placed his hindquarters where his headquarters should be." (So said by Lee when he learned that General Hooker, the new Union Commander, had written, in a letter to his soldiers, that "My headquarters will be 'in the saddle.'

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 then policy or tact or expediency or other words that were devised to conceal a deviation from a straight line.

Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less.

The truth is this: The march of Providence is so slow and our desires so impatient; the work of progress is so immense and our means of aiding it so feeble; the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope.

The education of a man is never complete until he dies.

...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.

Any victory would be dear at such a price.

For I consider the character of no man affected by a want of success, provided he has made an honest effort to succeed.

Let us go home and cultivate our virtues.

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.

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

I am now considered such a monster, that I hesitate to darken with my shadow, the doors of those I love, lest I should bring upon them misfortune.

Remember, we are all one country now. Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and bring them up to be Americans.

No blame can be attached to the army for its failure to accomplish what was projected by me... I alone am to blame, in perhaps expecting too much of its prowess and valor... could I have foreseen that the attack on the last day would fail, I should certainly have tried some other course... but I do not know what better course I could have pursued.

There is always hazard in military activity, but we must decide between the positive loss of inactivity and the risk of action.

Whither shall I flee? To no country on earth that I know of where there is as much liberty as yet remains to me even in Virginia.

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.

We cannot afford to be idle, and though weaker than our opponents in men and military equipments, must endeavor to harass, if we cannot destroy them.

There is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths.

Duty is the sublimest work in the English language.

Life processes take place in an aqueous medium. All organisms are composed mostly of water, whether they dwell in the oceans, lakes, and rivers, or on the land. Because the physical and chemical properties of water are well suited to the requirements of life, it is no accident that life is a water-based phenomenon.

We must enlist our own snake and strike like a cobra against their vitals with an attack on Washington.

The devil's name is dullness.

I will attack no matter what and win the war!

I consider the proper education of our youths one of the most important objects now to be attained and one from which the greatest benefits may be expected.

Every student must be a gentleman.

Why, it appears that we appointed all of our worst generals to command the armies and we appointed all of our best generals to edit the newspapers. I mean, I found by reading a newspaper that these editor generals saw all of the defects plainly from the start but didn't tell me until it was too late. I'm willing to yield my place to these best generals and I'll do my best for the cause by editing a newspaper.

No day should be lived unless it was begun with a prayer of thankfulness and an intercession for guidance.

What a glorious world Almighty God has given us. How thankless and ungrateful we are, and how we labor to mar his gifts.

The time is not come for impartial history. If the truth were told just now, it would not be credited.

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.

I am of the opinion that all who can should vote for the most intelligent, honest, and conscientious men eligible to office, irrespective of former party opinions, who will endeavour to make the new constitutions and the laws passed under them as beneficial as possible to the true interests, prosperity, and liberty of all classes and conditions of the people.

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.

Shake off those gloomy feelings. Drive them away. Fix your mind and pleasures upon what is before you.All is bright if you will think it so. All is happy if you will make it so. Do not dream. It is too ideal, too imaginary. Dreaming by day, I mean. Live in the world you inhabit. Look upon things as they are. Take them as you find them. Make the best of them. Turn them to your advantage.

It is easier to make our wishes conform to our means than to make our means conform to our wishes.

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.

A land without memories is a people without liberty.

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.

A man may manifest and communicate his joy, but he should conceal and smother his grief as much as possible.

Without music, we wouldn't have an Army.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Everyone should do all in his power to collect and disseminate the truth, in the hope that it may find a place in history and descend to posterity. History is not the relation of campaigns and battles and generals or other individuals, but that which shows the principles for which the South contended and which justified her struggle for those principles.

Marry...into a family that will enable your children to feel proud of both sides of the house.

It is history that teaches us to hope.

We have but one rule here, and that is that every student must be a gentleman.

Live in the world you inhabit. Look upon things as they are. Take them as you find them. Make the best of them. Turn them to your advantage.

They do not know what they say. If it came to a conflict of arms, the war will last at least four years. Northern politicians will not appreciate the determination and pluck of the South, and Southern politicians do not appreciate the numbers, resources, and patient perseverance of the North. Both sides forget that we are all Americans. I foresee that our country will pass through a terrible ordeal, a necessary expiation, perhaps, for our national sins.

I have thought from the time of the cessation of the hostilities, that silence and patience on the part of the South was the true course; and I think so still. Controversy of all kinds will, in my opinion, only serve to continue excitement and passion, and will prevent the public mind from the acknowledgement and acceptance of the truth.

We must...submit ourselves in adversity to the will of a merciful God as cheerfully as in prosperity.

The biggest mistake of my life was taking a military education.

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.

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.

Ideas are easy to conceive, less easy to execute.

You cannot barter manhood for peace.

Say what you mean to do...and take it for granted you mean to do right. Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one...you will wrong him and wrong yourself by equivocation of any kind.

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

The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past. A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.

I did only what my duty demanded. I could have taken no other course without dishonor.

Duty, then is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less.

I should NOT be trading on the blood of my men.

I believe it to be the duty of everyone to unite in the restoration of the country and the reestablishment of peace and harmony.

Respect is based on Friendship,and friendship is based on love and love is so accidental isn't it ?

Let us pray for ourselves, that we may not lose the word “concern” out of our Christian vocabulary. Let us pray for our nation. Let us pray for those who have never known Jesus Christ and redeeming love, for moral forces everywhere, for our national leaders. Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice.

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.

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.

My trust is in the mercy and wisdom of a kind Providence, who ordereth all things for our good.

While we see the Course of the final abolition of human Slavery is onward, & we give it the aid of our prayers & all justifiable means in our power, we must leave the progress as well as the result in his hands who sees the end; who Chooses to work by slow influences; & with whom two thousand years are but as a Single day.

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.

There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil.

It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.