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Ulysses S. Grant

142 quotes

“My lord, I have heard that your father was a military man. Was that the case?”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Arthur Richard Wellesley, 2nd Duke of Wellington, son of Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as quoted in Handy-book of Literary Curiosities (1892) by William Shepard Walsh, p. 511
“Though I have been trained as a soldier, and participated in many battles, there never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword. I look forward to an epoch when a court, recognized by all nations, will settle international differences, instead of keeping large standing armies as they do in Europe.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "International Arbitration" by W. H. Dellenback in The Commencement Annual, University of Michigan (30 June 1892) and in A Half Century of International Problems: A Lawyer's Views (1954) by Frederic René Co…
“I don't underrate the value of military knowledge, but if men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in A History of Militarism: Romance and Realities of a Profession (1937) by Alfred Vagts, p. 27
“I only know two tunes. One is Yankee Doodle, and the other one isn't.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted by Robert C. Winthrop in a letter to George W. Childs (c. 1889)
“The will of the people is the best law.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Lonely Quest: The Evolution of Presidential Leadership (1966) by Robert Rienow, Leona Train Rienow, p. 209
“General Burnside wanted to put his colored division in front, and I believe if he had done so it would have been a success. Still I agreed with General Meade as to his objections to that plan. General Meade said that if we put the colored troops in front, we had only one division, and it should prove a failure, it would then be said and very properly, that we were shoving these people ahead to get killed because we did not care anything about them. But that could not be said if we put white troops in front.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1884 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To the Committee on the Conduct of the War, as quoted in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (1884-1888), edited by Robert Underwood Johnson and Clarence C. Buel, New York: Century Co., Volume 4, p. 548
“We are responsible for these things in his race. It is not fair to visit our faults upon him, let him alone.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You must take it; I cannot live with anything in my possession that is not mine.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1885 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The New York Times (24 July 1885)
“Pete, let us have another game of brag, to recall the days that were so pleasant.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1885 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The New York Times (24 July 1885)
“I don't know why black skin may not cover a true heart as well as a white one.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1856 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reportedly said to a neighbor in 1856, as quoted in A Personal History of Ulysses S. Grant (1868), by Albert Deane Richardson, Hartford, Connecticut: American Publishing Company, p. 155. According to some other sources,…
“Corps, division, and post commanders will afford all facilities for the completion of the Negro regiments now organizing in this department. Commissioners will issue supplies, and quarter-masters will furnish stores, on the same requisitions and returns as are required for other troops. It is expected that all commanders will especially exert themselves in carrying out the policy of the Administration, not only in organizing colored regiments and rendering them efficient, but also in removing prejudices against them.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In all this I can see but the doom of slavery. The North do not want, nor will they want, to interfere with the institution. But they will refuse for all time to give it protection unless the South shall return soon to their allegiance.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his father-in-law, Frederick Dent (19 April 1861)
“Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Campaigning with Grant" (December 1896), by General Horace Porter, The Century Magazine
“No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1862 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Battle of Fort Donelson Feb 1862 as quoted in "United States of America,” by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey, White House Historical Association, 2006 Whitehouse.gov
“The negro troops are easier to preserve discipline among than our white troops, and I doubt not will prove equally good for garrison duty. All that have been tried have fought bravely.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At Vicksburg (24 July 1863), as quoted in Words of our Hero: Ulysses S. Grant, edited by Jeremiah Chaplin, Boston: D. Lothrop and Company, pp. 13-14. Also quoted in Ulysses S. Grant, Triumph over Adversity, by Brooks Do…
“My inclination is to whip the rebellion into submission, preserving all Constitutional rights. If it cannot be whipped any other way than through a war against slavery, let it come to to that legitimately. If it is necessary that slavery should fall that the Republic may continue its existence, let slavery go.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his father (27 November 1861)
“The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1861 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement to John Hill Brinton, at the start of his Tennessee River Campaign, early 1862, as quoted in Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton, Major and Surgeon U.S.V., 1861-1865 (1914) by John Hill Brinton, p. 239
“No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1862 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To General S.B. Buckner, Fort Donelson (16 February 1862)
“I suffer the mortification of seeing myself attacked right and left by people at home professing patriotism and love of country who never heard the whistle of a hostile bullet. I pity them and the nation dependent on such for its existence. I am thankful, however, that though such people make a great noise the masses are not like them.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1862 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his sister Mary (15 December 1862)
“God gave us Lincoln and Liberty, let us fight for both.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A toast made by Grant before his operations in the Vicksburg Campaign, (22 February 1863); as quoted in A Popular and Authentic Life of Ulysses S. Grant (1868) by Edward Deering Mansfield
“I am anxious to get as many of these negro regiments as possible, and to have them full, and completely equipped. I am particularly desirous of organizing a regiment of heavy artillery from the negroes, to garrison this place, and shall do so as soon as possible.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At Vicksburg (11 July 1863), as quoted in Words of our Hero: Ulysses S. Grant, edited by Jeremiah Chaplin, Boston: D. Lothrop and Company, p. 13
“I never was an abolitionist, not even what could be called anti-slavery, but I try to judge fairly and honestly and it became patent in my mind early in the rebellion that the North and South could never live at peace with each other except as one nation, and that without slavery. As anxious as I am to see peace established, I would not therefore be willing to see any settlement until the question is forever settled.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Elihu Washburne (30 August 1863)
“Dear father, I have received several letters from Mary and yourself, but as I have to deal with nineteen-twentieths of those received, have neglected to answer them.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1863 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Jesse Root Grant (15 June 1863), Vicksburg
“Well, if you see the President, tell him from me that, whatever happens, there will be no turning back.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1864 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Relayed via New-York Daily Tribune correspondent Henry E. Wing during the Battle of the Wilderness (5 May 1864)
“Is he really dead?”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1864 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: After hearing of John Sedgwick's death, as quoted in The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7–12, 1864 (1997), by Gordon C. Rhea, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, p. 95
“I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1864 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dispatch to Washington, during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (11 May 1864)
“Wherever the enemy goes let our troops go also.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1864 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dispatch to General Henry W. Halleck (1 August 1864), from City Point, Virginia
“I rise only to say that I do not intend to say anything. I thank you for your hearty welcomes and good cheers.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1865 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: U.S. Grant's "perfect speech" which he used on several occasions beginning in 1865, as quoted in Grant: A Biography (1982) by William S. McFeely, p. 234
“The war is over — the rebels are our countrymen again. The war is over, the Rebels are our countrymen again, and the best sign of rejoicing after the victory will be to abstain from all demonstrations in the field.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1865 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Upon stopping his men from cheering after Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House (9 April 1865)
“April 7, 1865. General R. E. Lee, the result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the C.S. Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia. U.S. Grant, Lieutenant-General.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1865 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Robert E. Lee (7 April 1865).
“Let us have peace.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1868 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Accepting the Republican Party's nomination for the U.S. presidency (29 May 1868)
“Whatever may have been my political opinions before, I have but one sentiment now. That is, we have a government, and laws and a flag, and they must all be sustained. There are but two parties now, traitors and patriots, and I want hereafter to be ranked with the latter, and I trust, the stronger party. I do not know but you may be placed in an awkward position, and a dangerous one pecuniarily, but costs cannot now be counted. My advice would be to leave where you are if you are not safe with the views you entertain. I would never stultify my opinion for the sake of a little security.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“After the fall of Vicksburg I did incline very much to an immediate move on Mobile. I believed then the place could be taken with but little effort, and with the rivers debouching there, in our possession, we would have such a base to opperate from on the very center of the Confederacy as would make them abandon entirely the states bound West by the Miss. I see however the importance of a movement into Texas just at this time.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have given the subject of arming the negro my hearty support. This, with the emancipation of the negro, is the heavyest blow yet given the Confederacy. The South rave a greatdeel about it and profess to be very angry. But they were united in their action before and with the negro under subjection could spare their entire white population for the field. Now they complain that nothing can be got out of their negroes.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gen. Thomas is now with me and you may rely on it I ill give him all the aid in my power. I would do this whether the arming the negro seemed to me a wise policy or _t, because it is an order that I am bound to obey and do not feel that in my position I have a right to question any policy of the Government. In this particular instance there is no objection however to my expressing an honest conviction.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That is, by arming the negro we have added a powerful ally. They will make good soldiers and taking them from the enemy weaken him in the same proportion they strengthen us. I am therefore most decidedly in favor of pushing this policy to the enlistment of a force sufficient to hold all the South falling into our hands and to aid in capturing more.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I do not pretend to sustain the order. At the time of its publication I was insensed by a reprimand received from Washington for permitting acts which the Jews, within my lines, were engaged in.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The order was made and sent out, without any reflection, and without thinking of the Jews as a sect or race to themselves, but simply as persons who had successfully, I say successfully instead of persistently because I know there were a plenty within my lines who envied them their success, violated an order, which violation innured greatly to help the rebels.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Give Mister Moses assurances that I have no prejudice against sect or race, but want each individual to be judged by his own merit. Order No. 11 does not sustain this statement, I admit, but then I do not sustain that order. It never would have been issued if it had not been telegraphed the moment penned, without one moment's reflection.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1868 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Isaac N. Morris (1868), as quoted in The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: July 1, 1868–October 31, 1869, by Ulysses S. Grant, p. 37. Also quoted in Grant (2001), by Jean Edward Smith, pp. 459–460
“Laws are to govern all alike — those opposed as well as those who favor them. I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In regard to foreign policy, I would deal with nations as equitable law requires individuals to deal with each other, and I would protect the law-abiding citizen, whether of native or foreign birth, wherever his rights are jeopardized or the flag of our country floats. I would respect the rights of all nations, demanding equal respect for our own. If others depart from this rule in their dealings with us, we may be compelled to follow their precedent.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As the United States is the freest of all nations, so, too, its people sympathize with all people struggling for liberty and self-government; but while so sympathizing it is due to our honor that we should abstain from enforcing our views upon unwilling nations and from taking an interested part, without invitation, in the quarrels between different nations or between governments and their subjects. Our course should always be in conformity with strict justice and law, international and local.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In conformity with the recommendation of Congress, a proposition was early made to the British Government to abolish the mixed courts created under the treaty of April 7, 1862, for the suppression of the slave trade. The subject is still under negotiation.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is a national humiliation that we are now compelled to pay from twenty to thirty million dollars annually (exclusive of passage money which we should share with vessels of other nations) to foreigners for doing the work which should be done by American vessels American built, American owned, and American manned. This is a direct drain upon the resources of the country of just so much money; equal to casting it into the sea, so far as this nation is concerned.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Message to the Senate and House of Representatives (23 March 1870), as quoted in the Congressional Globe, vol. 42, p. 2,177
“[A] measure of grander importance than any other one act of the kind from the foundation of our free government to the present day.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (30 March 1870)
“The union of the States of Germany into a form of government similar in many respects to that of the American Union is an event that can not fail to touch deeply the sympathies of the people of the United States. This union has been brought about by the long-continued, persistent efforts of the people, with the deliberate approval of the governments and people of twenty-four of the German States, through their regularly constituted representatives.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1871 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Message regarding the unification of Germany (7 February 1871)
“You can violate the law. The banks may violate the law and be sustained in doing so. But the President of the United States cannot violate the law.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1873 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reply to brokers who urged him to lend $44 million from the U.S. Treasury reserve to banks. Harper's Weekly (11 October 1873)
“Let no guilty man escape, if it can be avoided. No personal considerations should stand in the way of performing a public duty.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1875 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Endorsement of a letter relating to the Whiskey Ring (29 July 1875)
“Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately you occasionally find men disgrace labor.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at Midland International Arbitration Union, Birmingham, United Kingdom (1877)
“It is unusual to notify the two Houses of Congress by message of the promulgation, by proclamation of the Secretary of State, of the ratification of a constitutional amendment. In view, however, of the vast importance of the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution, this day declared a part of that revered instrument, I deem a departure from the usual custom justifiable.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source