Memorial Day quotes
223 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside memorial day — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"Words are even more feeble on this Memorial Day, for the sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them."
"We must kill them in war, just because they live beyond the river. If they lived on this side, we would be called murderers."
"Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose. Anything less is a form of slavery."
"I can't claim to know the words of all the national anthems in the world, but I don't know of any other that ends with a question and a challenge as ours does: Does that flag still wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? That is what we must all ask."
"If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen."
"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."
"Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background, the countless minor scenes and interiors of the secession war; and it is best they should not. The real war will never get in the books."
"And each man stands with his face in the light. Of his own drawn sword, ready to do what a hero can."
"In our observances this Memorial Day, we honor the brave Americans who paid the highest price for their commitment to the ideals of peace, freedom, and justice. Our debt to them can be paid only by our own recommitment to preserving those same ideals."
"I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free."
"In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved."
"One should never allow chaos to develop in order to avoid going to war, because one does not avoid a war but instead puts it off to his disadvantage"
"What's right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity - intellect and resources - to do some thing about them."
"Your silent tents of green We deck with fragrant flowers; Yours has the suffering been, The memory shall be ours."
"We shall pay any price, bear any burden, to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
"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 And I'll proudly stand up next to him to defend her still today, Cuz there aint no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA"
"While there are towns and cities still planning Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some think the day is for honoring anyone who has died, not just those fallen in service to our country."
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead! In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger."
"We owe this freedom of choice and action to those men and women in uniform who have served this nation and its interests in time of need. In particular, we are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free."
"Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one."
