Ulysses S. Grant Quotes (34 Quotes)


    No terms except unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your works.


    If men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail.

    I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.

    I know only two tunes: one of them is "Yankee Doodle," and the other isn't.


    If you see the President, tell him from me that whatever happens there will be no turning back.

    Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately, you occasionally find men who disgrace labor.

    When wars do come, they fall upon the many, the producing class, who are the sufferers.

    Although a soldier by profession, I have never felt any sort of fondness for war, and I have never advocated it, except as a means of peace.


    I never was an Abolitionest, not even what could be called anti slavery, but I try to judge farely and honestly and it become patent to 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.

    There never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword.

    Let no guilty man escape, if it can he avoided.... No personal consideration should stand in the way of performing a public duty.

    Everyone has his superstitions. One of mine has always been when I started to go anywhere, accomplished.

    In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.

    I appreciate the fact, and am proud of it, that the attentions I am receiving are intended more for our country than for me personally.

    A man anxious to tell a dirty story asked, 'Are there any ladies present' Ulysses S. Grant spoke up and replied, 'There are no ladies present, but there are gentlemen.'

    Hold fast to the Bible. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization and to this we must look as our guide in the future.

    Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor of your liberties write its precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives.

    In his later reminiscences, Ulysses S. Grant roundly condemned the Mexican War in which he had served, and even saw the Civil War as a sort of karmic retribution for America's sins against its southern neighbor 'Generally the officers of the army were indifferent whether the annexation of Texas was consummated or not but not so all of them. For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory.'

    No other terms than unconditional and immediate surrender. I propose to move immediately upon your works.

    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.


    It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training.

    Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private school, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate.

    The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.


    I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution.

    I have made it a rule of my life to trust a man long after other people gave him up, but I don't see how I can ever trust any human being again.

    Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions.

    'The Southern rebellion was largely the outgrowth of the Mexican war. Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions. We got our punishment in the most sanguinary and expensive war of modern times.'

    The issue of slavery provoked little moral indignation in General Grant, and in the first days following the attack on Fort Sumter, he seems to have believed that the North shared his indifference to abolition 'In all this I can but see 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, and then too this disturbance will give such an impetus to the production of their staple, cotton, in other parts of the world that they can never recover the controll of the market again for that comodity. This will reduce the value of negroes so much that they will never be worth fighting over again.'

    The right of revolution is an inherent one. When people are oppressed by their government, it is a natural right they enjoy to relieve themselves of oppression, if they are strong enough, whether by withdrawal from it, or by overthrowing it and substituting a government more acceptable.



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