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Horatio Nelson
47 quotes
“Fear? I never saw fear. What is it? It never came near me.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Said by Nelson after getting lost on a bird-nesting exhibition and being asked by his grandmother why fear did not drive him home, as quoted in Nelson: A personal history (1994), Hibbert, C., p. 6
“Those gobblers [the French]?- I detest them.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Said by Nelson during a conversation with his uncle Maurice Suckling, as quoted in Nelson: A personal history (1994), Hibbert, C., p. 73
“There are three things, young gentlemen, which you are constantly to bear in mind. Firstly, you must always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any opinion of your own respecting their propriety. Secondly, you must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your king; and thirdly, you must hate a Frenchman, as you do the devil.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1793 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nelson's advice to his Midshipmen (1793), as quoted in Memoirs of the Life of Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson K.B. (1849), edited by Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, Vol. 2, p. 580
“Success, I trust — indeed have little doubt — will crown our zealous and well-meant endeavours: if not, our Country will, I believe, sooner forgive an Officer for attacking his Enemy than for letting it alone.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1777 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement regarding the attack on Bastia, Corsica (3 May 1794), as published in The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson with Notes (1845) edited by Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Vol. I: 1777-1794,…
“The lives of all are in the hands of Him who knows best whether to preserve it or no, and to His will do I resign myself. My character and good name are in my own keeping. Life with disgrace is dreadful. A glorious death is to be envied, and, if anything happens to me recollect death is a debt we must all pay, and whether now or in a few years hence can be but of little consequence.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1785 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter from Agamemnon at sea (10 March 1795), in Nelson's letters to his wife and other documents, 1785-1831 edited by Navy Records Society, p. 199
“I cannot, if I am in the field for glory, be kept out of sight. Probably my services may be forgotten by the great, by the time I get Home; but my mind will not forget, nor cease to feel, a degree of consolation and of applause superior to undeserved rewards. Wherever there is anything to be done, there Providence is sure to direct my steps. Credit must be given me in spite of envy.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1795 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his wife, Frances Nelson (2 August 1796), as published in The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson with Notes (1845) edited Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Vol. II: 1795-1797, p. 203
“I had rather suffer death than alarm Mrs. Freemantle, by letting her see me in this state, when I can give her no tidings whatever of her husband.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1795 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After being wounded during the attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife (24 July 1797), as quoted in The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson with Notes (1845) edited Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Vol. II: 179…
“Let me alone, I have yet my legs left, and one arm. Tell the surgeon to make haste and get his instruments. I know I must lose my right arm, so the sooner it is off the better.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1795 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After being wounded during the attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife (24 July 1797), as quoted in The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson with Notes (1845) edited Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Vol. II: 179…
“First gain the victory and then make the best use of it you can.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1797 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Before the battle of the Nile (1 August 1797)
“Before this time to-morrow I shall have gained a peerage, or Westminster Abbey.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1797 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Before the Battle of the Nile (1 August 1797), as quoted in Life of Nelson, Ch. 5; alternately reported as "Westminster Abbey, or victory!
“The Neapolitan officers did not lose much honour, for God knows they had not much to lose - but they lost all they had.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1798 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After a French rout of the Neapolitan army (1798); reported in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, vol. 121 (May 1877), p. 577, col. 2
“I am myself a Norfolk man, and I glory in being so.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On being welcomed on arrival in Great Yarmouth, in his home county; reported in a letter from Capt. to Dawson Turner (29 August 1846), enclosing the facsimile of a letter from Nelson to the Mayor of Norwich; Norfolk Arc…
“My greatest happiness is to serve my gracious King and Country and I am envious only of glory; for if it be a sin to covet glory I am the most offending soul alive.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1800 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his mistress, Lady Hamilton (1800) ; derived from "But if it be a sin to covet honour, I am the most offending soul alive." by William Shakespeare, in Henry V
“It is warm work; and this day may be the last to any of us at a moment. But mark you! I would not be elsewhere for thousands.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At the Battle of Copenhagen (2 April 1801)
“To leave off action"? Well, damn me if I do! You know, Foley, I have only one eye,— I have a right to be blind sometimes . . . I really do not see the signal!”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At the battle of Copenhagen, Ignoring Admiral Parker's signal to retreat, holding his telescope up to his blind eye, and proceeding to victory against the Danish fleet. (2 April 1801); as quoted in Life of Nelson, Ch. 7
“If a man consults whether he is to fight, when he has the power in his own hands, it is certain that his opinion is against fighting.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement (August 1801)
“There is in the handling of these Transatlantic ships a nucleus of trouble for the Navy of Great Britain.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On American ships sighted sometime between 1801 and 1803, as quoted in The Royal Navy: Its Influence in English History and in the Growth of Empire (1914) by John Leyland
“Never mind manoeuvres always go at them.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I had been censured every time I have run my ship, or fleets under my command, into great danger, I should have long ago been out of the Service and never in the House of Peers.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement (March 1805); Dispatches and Letters of Horatio Nelson, Vol. 6: May 1804 to July 1805 (1846), p. 353
“Victory or Westminster Abbey.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In honour I gained them, and in honour I will die with them.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it, however painful it may be.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The measure may be thought bold, but I am of the opinion the boldest are the safest.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement to Sir Hyde Parker urging vigorous action against the Russians and Danes (24 March 1801). The quote that the boldest measures are the safest comes from Livy. Quoted in "The Book of Military Quotations" by Pete…
“Bonaparte has often made his boast, that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea, that his was kept in order, and increasing, by staying in port; but he now finds, I fancy, if emperors hear truth, that his fleet suffers more in a night, than ours in one year; however, thank God, the Toulon fleet is got in order again, and I hear the troops embarked, and I hope they will come out to sea in fine weather.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1783 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a letter to Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, written while aboard HMS Victory and dated (14 March 1805), quoted in full in The Naval History of Great Britain from the year 1783 to 1822 by Captain Edward Pelham Brenton…
“Desperate affairs require desperate measures.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Book of Military Quotations (1992) edited by Peter G. Tsouras, p. 54
“I cannot command winds and weather.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Letters and Despatches of Horatio, Viscount Nelson, K.B. (1886) edited by John Knox Laughton, p. 99
“... When he was on the eve of departure for one of his great expeditions the coachmaker said to him, "The carriage shall be at the door punctually at six o clock"; "A quarter before," said Nelson. "I have always been a quarter of an hour before my time and it has made a man of me.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter from Sir Thomas Buxton to his son quoted in "Life of Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton" from Sylvanus Urban (ed.) The Gentleman's Magazine (July to December 1848), p. 577
“The bravest man feels an anxiety 'circa praecordia' as he enters the battle; but he dreads disgrace yet more.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Life of Nelson: The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain, Volume 2. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1897, p. 52; attributed by Mahan to Locker's Greenwich Gallery article "…
“Time is everything; five minutes make the difference between victory and defeat.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frothingham, Jessie Peabody. Sea Fighters from Drake to Farragut New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1902. p. 314
“I am Lord Nelson. See, here's my fin.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Indicating his stub of his missing arm during the battle of Copenhagen, as quoted in Jack Russell, Nelson and the Hamiltons (1969), p. 238
“The business of the English Commander-in-Chief being first to bring an Enemy's Fleet to Battle, on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his Ships close on board the Enemy, as expeditiously as possible;) and secondly, to continue them there, without separating, until the business is decided.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1804 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Plan of Attack" (1805), drawn up during pursuit of the French fleet to the West Indies, as published in The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson with Notes (1866) edited by Sir Nicholas Harris Nic…
“May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my Country and for the benefit of Europe in general a great and glorious victory; and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after Victory be the predominant feature of the British fleet. For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may His blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen. Amen.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Something must be left to chance; nothing is sure in a sea fight above all.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I am without orders and unexpected occurrences arrive I shall always act as I think the honour and glory of my King and Country demand. But in case signals can neither be seen or perfectly understood, no captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“England expects every Man will do his Duty.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) first seen 1805 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Variant, reported in the London Times (26 December 1805): "England expects every officer and man to do his duty this day.
“Now I can do no more. We must trust to the Great Disposer of all Events and the Justice of our Cause. I thank God for this great opportunity of doing my Duty.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In response to the cheer that was raised after he sent the signal "England expects every Man will do his Duty.", as quoted in James Stanier Clarke and John McArthur, The Life of Admiral Lord Nelson, K.B. from His Lordsh…
“This is too warm work, Hardy, to last long.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Drink, drink. Fan, fan. Rub, rub.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In his dying hours, Nelson was attended by his chaplain, Alexander Scott; his steward, Chevalier; and the purser, Walter Burke. Their accounts have been available to Nelson's modern biographers. This was a request to al…
“It is nonsense, Mr. Burke, to suppose I can live. My sufferings are great but they will soon be over.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Kiss me, Hardy”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thank God, I have done my duty.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Leaders can call to the best in us. I thought often of the inspiring flag signal Horatio Nelson sent on the eve of Trafalgar. "England expects every man will do his duty." The flags above the Victory didn't ask or demand obedience in the upcoming fight; they expressed Nelson's unshakable admiration for and faith in the sailors and patriots he knew them to be.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Stanley A. McChrystal, My Share of the Task (2013), p. 392
“No body of men have ever been so "un-English" as the great Englishmen, Nelson, Shelley, Gladstone: supreme in war, in literature, in practical affairs; yet with no single evidence in the characteristics of their energy that they possess any of the qualities of the English blood. But in submitting to the leadership of such perplexing variations from the common stock, the Englishman is merely exhibiting his general capacity for accepting the universe, rather than for rebelling against it.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: C. F. G. Masterman, The Condition of England, (1909). Also quoted in Judy Giles and Tim Middleton, Writing Englishness: An Introductory Sourcebook. Routledge, 2003
“Let the country mourn their hero; I grieve for the loss of the most fascinating companion I ever conversed with — the greatest and most simple of men — one of the nicest and most innocent — interesting beyond all, on shore, in public and even in private life. Men are not always themselves and put on their behaviour with their clothes, but if you live with a man on board a ship for years; if you are continually with him in his cabin, your mind will soon find out how to appreciate him. I could for ever tell you the qualities of this beloved man. I have not shed a tear for years before the 21st of October and since, whenever alone, I am quite like a child.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Alexander Scott, the chaplain who attended to Nelson at his death, as quoted in Trafalgar: An Eyewitness History (2005) edited by Tom Pocock, p. 154; also in Seize, Burn, Or Sink: The Thoughts and Words of Admiral Lord …
“I only saw him once in my life, and for, perhaps, an hour. It was soon after I returned from India. I went to the Colonial Office in Downing Street, and there I was shown into the little waiting-room on the right hand, where I found, also waiting to see the Secretary of State, a gentleman, whom from his likeness to his pictures and the loss of an arm, I immediately recognised as Lord Nelson. He could not know who I was, but he entered at once into conversation with me, if I can call it conversation, for it was almost all on his side and all about himself, and in, really, a style so vain and so silly as to surprise and almost disgust me. I suppose something that I happened to say may have made him guess that I was somebody, and he went out of the room for a moment, I have no doubt to ask the office-keeper who I was, for when he came back he was altogether a different man, both in manner and matter. All that I had thought a charlatan style had vanished, and he talked of the state of this country and of the aspect and probabilities of affairs on the Continent with a good sense, and a knowledge of subjects both at home and abroad, that surprised me equally and more agreeably than the first part of our interview had done; in fact, he talked like an officer and a statesman. The Secretary of State kept us long waiting, and certainly, for the last half or three-quarters of an hour, I don't know that I ever had a conversation that interested me more. Now, if the Secretary of State had been punctual, and admitted Lord Nelson in the first quarter of an hour, I should have had the same impression of a light and trivial character that other people have had, but luckily I saw enough to be satisfied that he was really a very superior man; but certainly a more sudden and complete metamorphosis I never saw.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Duke of Wellington, remarks to John Wilson Croker (1 October 1834), quoted in L. J. Jennings (ed.), The Croker Papers: The Correspondence and Diaries of the Late Right Honourable John Wilson Croker, LL.D., F.R.S., Secre…
“In the battle off Cape St. Vincent, Nelson gave orders for boarding the "San Josef," exclaiming "Westminster Abbey, or victory!”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“England expects every man to do his duty.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) said by 1805 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source