279+ Veterans Day Quotes to Honor Our Heroes

In honor of Veterans Day, we have collected over 279 quotes from military veterans and leaders, as well as civilians, about the importance of honoring our heroes. This is a day to come together and remember all that our veterans have done for us. We would like to express our gratitude for their service by sharing these powerful words about patriotism, duty, sacrifice, and more.

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Veterans Day Quotes

1. “We take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” – Cynthia Ozick
2. “May we never forget our fallen comrades. Freedom isn’t free.” – Sgt. Major Bill Paxton
3. “America without her soldiers would be like God without His angels.” – Claudia Pemberton
4. “Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay.” – Barack Obama
5. “Who kept the faith and fought the fight; The glory theirs, the duty ours.” – Wallace Bruce
6. Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul. — Michel de Montaigne
7. I think there is one higher office than President and I would call that patriot. — Gary Hart
8. “In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.“ – Barack Obama
9. “This will remain the land of the free so long as it is the home of the brave.” – Elmer Davis
10. Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul. — Michel de Montaigne
11. America’s veterans deserve the very best health care because they’ve earned it. — Jim Ramstad
12. “It’s better to fight for something in life than to die for nothing.” – Gen. George S. Patton
13. “Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it.” – Pericles
14. “Without heroes, we’re all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go.” — Bernard Malamud
15. “Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.” – Michel de Montaigne
16. How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! – Maya Angelou
17. “On thy grave, the rain shall fall from the eyes of a mighty nation!” – Thomas William Parsons
18. “Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go.” – Bernard Malamud
19. “A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom.” – Bob Dylan
20. “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes.” – Maya Angelou
21. A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace. – Theodore Roosevelt
22. “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” – Winston Churchill
23. “The soldier’s heart, the soldier’s spirit, the soldier’s soul, are everything.” – George Marshall
24. “Heroes may not be braver than anyone else. They’re just braver 5 minutes longer.“ – Ronald Reagan
25. A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. — Joseph Campbell
26. This nation will remain the land of the free only as long as it is home of the brave. — Elmer Davis
27. “Most have been forgotten. Most deserve to be forgotten. The heroes will always be remembered. The best.“ – George R.R. Martin
28. “Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.” — President Herbert Hoover
29. The hero is the man dedicated to the creation and / or defense of reality-conforming, life-promoting values. — Andrew Bernstein
30. “Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
31. “Freedom is secured every day by our men and women in uniform. We must build a future worthy of their sacrifice.” — Nancy Pelosi
32. “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” – G.K. Chesterton
33. “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it… it flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.” – Unknown
34. “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.“ – George Orwell
35. “It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” – Norman Schwarzkopf
36. “Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” – Adlai Stevenson II
37. “My father had many, many veterans over to the house, and the older I got the more I appreciated their sacrifice.” – Steven Spielberg
38. Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form or a readiness to die. — G.K. Chesterton
39. Heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history. — Mary Roach
40. Better than honor and glory, and History’s iron pen, Was the thought of duty done and the love of his fellow-men. — Richard Watson Gilder
41. Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all. — George Washington
42. “I believe in America… because we have great dreams and because we have the opportunity to make those dreams come true.” — Wendell Willkie
43. “Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be.” — Daniel Boorstin, twelfth Librarian of the United States Congress
44. “They are dead, but they live in each Patriot’s breast, And their names are engraved on honor’s bright crest.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
45. “To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” — Nelson Mandela
46. As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. — John F. Kennedy
47. “It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” — General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
48. “Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.”- Charles de Gaulle
49. “By recognizing and thanking our local veterans, we are reminding them that their selfless service does not go unnoticed.” — Abigail Spanberger
50. “No arsenal, or no weapons in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.” – Ronald Reagan
51. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. — Abraham Lincoln
52. “Soldiers themselves are reluctant to evaluate the costs of war, but someone must. That evaluation, ongoing and unadulterated by politics, may be the one thing a country absolutely owes the soldiers who defend its borders.“ – Sebastian Junger
53. On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free. — Dan Lipinski
54. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. — Abraham Lincoln
55. The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation. — George Washington
56. I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: ‘I served in the United States Navy.’ — John F. Kennedy
57. “I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: ‘I served in the United States Navy.’” – John F. Kennedy
58. “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” – George Washington
59. Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. — Winston Churchill
60. “We are called the nation of inventors. And we are. We could still claim that title and wear its loftiest honors if we had stopped with the first thing we ever invented, which was human liberty.” – Mark Twain
61. In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans’ organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. — Dwight D. Eisenhower
62. “Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.“ – Abraham Lincoln
63. “Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.” – Abraham Lincoln
64. We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf.” — George Orwell
65. How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” — Maya Angelou
66. The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment. — Judd Gregg
67. “The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment.” – Judd Gregg
68. “The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment.” – Judd Gregg
69. “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” – John F. Kennedy
70. “Without the brave efforts of all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines and their families, this Nation, along with our allies around the world, would not stand so boldly, shine so brightly and live so freely.” – Lane Evans
71. “Without the brave efforts of all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines and their families, this Nation, along with our allies around the world, would not stand so boldly, shine so brightly and live so freely.” — Lane Evans
72. “Our democracy must be not only the envy of the world but the engine of our own renewal. There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.” — President Bill Clinton’s first inaugural address
73. America without her soldiers would be like God without his angels.” — Claudia Pemberton
74. As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” — John F. Kennedy

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Happy Veterans Day Quotes

1. “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” – Joseph Campbell
2. “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” – Elmer Davis
3. America’s veterans embody the ideals upon which America was founded more than 229 years ago. — Steve Buyer
4. “The greatest glory of a free-born people is to transmit that freedom to their children.” – William Harvard
5. “We are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free.” — President Ronald Reagan
6. “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
7. “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” – Billy Graham
8. “Valor is a gift. Those having it never know for sure whether they have it until the test comes.” – Carl Sandburg
9. “Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better, whereas enslavement is a certainty of the worst.” — Albert Camus
10. “The highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country.” – George S. Patton, Jr.
11. “Heroes never die. They live on forever in the hearts and minds of those who would follow in their footsteps.” – Emily Potter
12. “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.” – G.K. Chesterton
13. “We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage.” — Theodore Roosevelt

Short Veterans Day Quotes

1. “Never forget, ever honor”
2. “Fallen, but not forgotten”
3. Fortune favors the brave. — Terence
4. “In memory of many, in memory of all”
5. “Home of the free because of the brave.”
6. Americans never quit. — Douglas MacArthur
7. “We don’t know them all, but we owe them all.”
8. The only easy day was yesterday. — US Navy SEALs
9. “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” – Plato
10. “We stand for the flag, we kneel for the fallen.”
11. “To find yourself, think for yourself.” — Socrates
12. “Americans never quit.” – General Douglas MacArthur
13. In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. — José Narosky
14. “Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious“ – Oscar Wilde
15. “Freedom is never given; it is won.” — A. Philip Randolph
16. “In the aftermath, we are because they were.” — RJ Heller
17. “Never was so much owed by so many few.”- Winston Churchill
18. “Here men endured that a nation might live.” — Herbert Hoover
19. “All gave some, some gave all. Remember them this Memorial Day.”
20. “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.” – Winston Churchill
21. “Aspire rather be a hero than merely appear one.” – Baltasar Gracian
22. “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” – St. Ambrose
23. “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” – Thomas Jefferson
24. The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. — Thomas Paine
25. “The patriot’s blood is the seed of freedom’s tree.” – Thomas Campbell
26. “Heroism is not only in the man but in the occasion.” – Calvin Coolidge
27. “When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?” — George Canning
28. “Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne
29. “What I can do for my country, I am willing to do.” – Christopher Gadsen
30. We will not tire, We will not falter, We will not fail. — George W. Bush
31. Spending time with America’s soldiers is always inspiring. — John Boehner
32. “The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem.” – Aaron Kilbourne
33. “They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!” – Mel Gibson
34. He loves his country best who strives to make it best. — Robert G. Ingersoll
35. “They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation.” – Henry Ward Beecher
36. Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free. — Dwight D. Eisenhower
37. “If you want to thank a soldier, be the kind of American worth fighting for.”
38. “Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives.” – John Adams
39. “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” – Nathan Hale
40. “Patriotism was a living fire of unquestioned belief and purpose.” — Frank Knox
41. Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear. — Mark Twain
42. “I have long believed that sacrifice is the pinnacle of patriotism.” – Bob Riley
43. “Let their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored.” – Daniel Webster
44. “There is nothing nobler than risking your life for your country.” – Nick Lampson
45. “We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them.” – Francis A. Walker
46. “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.”
47. “A man is a patriot if his heart beats true to his country.” – Charles E. Jefferson
48. “Dead upon the field of glory, Hero fit for song and story.” – John Randolph Thomason

Inspirational Veterans Day Quotes

1. “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – William Faulkner
2. Marines—you beat them down and they come back for more.” — Chris Kyle
3. Freedom is never free.” — Anonymous
4. “We owe our World War II veterans – and all our veterans – a debt we can never fully repay.” – Doc Hastings
5. “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” – Mark Twain
6. “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.” – Billy Graham
7. “Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no future.”- Elie Wisel
8. “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America.” – William J. Clinton
9. “The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men.” – Minot J. Savage
10. Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened. — Billy Graham
11. “Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no future.” — Elie Wiesel
12. “To those in uniform serving today and to those who have served in the past, we honor you today and every day.”
13. “The legacy of heroes — the memory of a great name, and the inheritance of a great example.” – Benjamin Disraeli
14. “Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.” – Theodore Roosevelt
15. “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln
16. Our veterans accepted the responsibility to defend America and uphold our values when duty called.
17. –Bill Shuster”
18. “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived.” – George S. Patton
19. “Our veterans accepted the responsibility to defend America and uphold our values when duty called.” – Bill Shuster
20. “The brave die never, though they sleep in the dust, their courage nerves a thousand living men.” – Minot J. Savage
21. “So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.” – Helen Keller
22. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure.” – Colin Powell
23. “Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength.” – Theodore Roosevelt
24. “In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King Jr
25. “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he is vigilant in its preservation.” – Gen. Douglas MacArthur
26. This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans. — Thomas M. Smith
27. “I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.” — Rosa Parks
28. The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude. — Jeff Miller
29. The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude. — Jeff Miller
30. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. — John Quincy Adams
31. “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.”
32. “Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.” — Albert Einstein
33. “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy
34. “The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude.” – Jeff Miller
35. “If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” – George Washington
36. Perfect valor is to behave, without witnesses, as one would act were all the world watching. — François de la Rochefoucauld
37. “They fell, but o’er their glorious grave. Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.” – Francis Marion Crawford
38. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” —the New Testament of the Bible (John 15:13)
39. “We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.“ – Winston S. Churchill
40. “You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” — Aristotle
41. “Heroes never die. They live on forever in the hearts and minds of those who would follow in their footsteps.” – Emily Potter

Veterans Day Quotes Of Appreciation

1. Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. — Douglas MacArthur
2. “I can do everything in my power to live a life that’s worthy of what it took in order to make it possible to be here at home.” — Pete Buttigieg
3. “Veterans are a symbol of what makes our nation great, and we must never forget all they have done to ensure our freedom.” – Rodney Frelinghuysen
4. “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.” – Lee Greenwood
5. I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” — Nathan Hale
6. Sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the Gun down.” — Malcolm X
7. “We cherish too, the Poppy red that grows on fields where valor led, it seems to signal to the skies that blood of heroes never dies.“ – Moina Michael
8. “For the love of country, they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.” – James A. Garfield
9. “The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.“ – Douglas Macarthur
10. Honoring the sacrifices many have made for our country in the name of freedom and democracy is the very foundation of Veterans Day. — Charles B. Rangel
11. “Duty, honor, country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.” – Gen. Douglas MacArthur
12. “And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier’s tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.” – Joseph Rodman Drake
13. “Honoring the sacrifices many have made for our country in the name of freedom and democracy is the very foundation of Veterans Day.” – Charles B. Rangel
14. Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but the Marines don’t have that problem. — Ronald Reagan
15. “Four things support the world: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valor of the brave.” – Frank Herbert
16. “I love America more than any other country in the world, and exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” — James Baldwin
17. “As we set today aside to honor and thank our veterans, let us be mindful that we should do this every day of the year and not just one.” – Beth Pennington
18. “It is not enough to fight. The issue is decided by the spirit we bring to the fight. It is morale that wins the victory.” – General George Catlett Marshall
19. “We became a great nation also because every time our beliefs and ideals have been threatened, Americans have stepped forward to defend them.” — Bill Clinton
20. “As America celebrates Memorial Day, we pay tribute to those who have given their lives in our nation’s wars.” – John M. McHugh, United States Representative
21. “While the nature of war has changed… the values that drive our brave men and women in uniform remain constant: honor, courage, selflessness.” — Barack Obama
22. No man is a man until he has been a soldier.” — Louis de Bernières
23. Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go.” — Bernard Malamud
24. The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it. — Thucydides
25. I’ve lived the literal meaning of the ‘land of the free’ and ‘home of the brave.’ It’s not corny for me. I feel it in my heart. I feel it in my chest. — Chris Kyle
26. “That’s what any committed patriot would do: Fight to the last. Defeat your enemy at any cost; then hope you have enough left to rebuild.“ – Randolph D. Calverhall
27. “I had reasoned this out in my mind: There was one of two things I had a right to—liberty or death. If I could not have one, I would have the other.” — Harriet Tubman
28. True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. — Arthur Ashe
29. My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place—police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces. — Sidney Sheldon
30. “With courage and character, American soldiers continue to put themselves on the line to defend our freedom, and so many have paid the ultimate sacrifice.” — Dan Lipinski
31. “Sometimes, courage is nothing more than a willingness to think differently than those around you. In a culture of conformity, that’s braver than it sounds.” — Mary Roach
32. My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place–police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces. — Sidney Sheldon
33. “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” — Arthur Ashe
34. “On this day, take time to remember those who have fallen. But on every day after, do more; put the freedoms they died for to greater and nobler uses.” —Richelle E. Goodrich
35. “On the battlefield, the military pledges to leave no soldier behind. As a nation, let it be our pledge that when they return home, we leave no veteran behind.” – Dan Lipinski
36. The sanctity of our battlefields, monuments, and veterans institutions is of utmost importance to preserve military history and pay respect to those who fought. — Henry Waxman
37. “I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.” – Theodore Roosevelt
38. “I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.“ – Theodore Roosevelt
39. Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death! – Sun Tzu
40. “My country owes me nothing. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, the opportunity for service and honor.“ – Herbert Hoover
41. “Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.” – Sun Tzu
42. “This is the day we pay homage to all those who didn’t come home. This is not Veterans Day, it’s not a celebration, it is a day of solemn contemplation over the cost of freedom.” – Tamra Bolton
43. “A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it.” — Frederick Douglas
44. The young patriots now returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other deployments worldwide are joining the ranks of veterans to whom America owes an immense debt of gratitude. — Steve Buyer
45. “On this day of remembrance, we once again renew our pledge: that just as the military leaves no one behind on the battlefield, we must leave no veteran behind when they come home.“ — Nancy Pelosi
46. “Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.” – Harry S. Truman
47. “On Memorial Day, we honor those that have fought for the American concept. Men and women that have sacrificed so much in order to defend the ideals that have made us a great nation.” — Kamala Harris
48. War may sometimes be a necessary ****. But no matter how necessary, it is always an ****, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children. — Jimmy Carter
49. “…And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice.” – Ronald Reagan
50. “Ceremonies are important. But our gratitude has to be more than visits to the troops, and once-a-year Memorial Day ceremonies. We honor the dead best by treating the living well.” – Jennifer M. Granholm
51. The thing we all had in common wasn’t muscle; it was the will to do whatever it takes.” — Chris Kyle
52. If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
53. “I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it.” – John Thune
54. We must never forget why we have, and why we need our military. Our armed forces exist solely to ensure our nation is safe, so that each and every one of us can sleep soundly at night, knowing we have ‘guardians at the gate.’ — Allen West
55. “We must never forget why we have and why we need our military. Our armed forces exist solely to ensure our nation is safe, so that each and every one of us can sleep soundly at night, knowing we have ‘guardians at the gate.’” – Allen West
56. “Do not forget that the armed forces are the servants of the people. You do not make national policy; it is we, the civilians, who decide these issues and it is your duty to carry out these tasks with which you are entrusted.” – M. A. Jinnah
57. On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free. — Dan Lipinski
58. “Because all of us believe and understand in the fabric of the common bond of why we call ourselves American is to care for the men and women who wear the uniform; and when they take off the uniform, we care for them when they are veterans.” – Steve Buyer
59. The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation. — President George Washington
60. But this Veterans Day, I believe we should do more than sing the praises of the bravery and patriotism that our veterans have embodied in the past. We should take this opportunity to re-evaluate how we are treating our veterans in the present. — Nick Lampson
61. “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” – Theodore Roosevelt
62. The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” — G.K. Chesterton
63. It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” — Norman Schwarzkopf
64. “Liberty is never unalienable; it must be redeemed regularly with the blood of patriots or it always vanishes. Of all the so-called natural human rights that have ever been invented, liberty is least likely to be cheap and is never free of cost.“ – Robert A. Heinlein
65. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I had a purpose being in the Navy. It wasn’t about money and rank or prestige. It was about raising the flag. We do what we do because no one else can or will do it. We fight so others can sleep at night. — Timothy Ciciora
66. “It is a proud privilege to be a soldier – a good soldier … [with]discipline, self-respect, pride in his unit and his country, a high sense of duty and obligation to comrades and to his superiors, and a self-confidence born of demonstrated ability.“ – George S. Patton Jr.
67. We can’t equate spending on veterans with spending on defense. Our strength is not just in the size of our defense budget, but in the size of our hearts, in the size of our gratitude for their sacrifice. And that’s not just measured in words or gestures. — Jennifer Granholm
68. It’s about how we treat our veterans every single day of the year. It’s about making sure they have the care they need and the benefits that they’ve earned when they come home. It’s about serving all of you as well as you’ve served the United States of America. — Barack Obama
69. The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers. The Soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country.” — George S. Patton
70. Never was so much owed by so many to so few.” — Winston Churchill
71. “The events of that day would forever be remembered, and they stood together as a united Marridon, a nation that would lead in innovation and liberality, taking up the thread that had been left for them, the essence of selfless love woven along a national loom.“ – Michelle Franklin
72. America’s finest – our men and women in uniform, are a force for good throughout the world, and that is nothing to apologize for.” — Sarah Palin
73. Better than honor and glory, and History’s iron pen, was the thought of duty done and the love of his fellow-men.” — Richard Watson Gilder
74. “America’s fighting men and women sacrifice much to ensure that our great nation stays free. We owe a debt of gratitude to the soldiers that have paid the ultimate price for this cause, as well as for those who are blessed enough to return from the battlefield unscathed.” — Allen Boyd
75. America’s Veterans have served their country with the belief that democracy and freedom are ideals to be upheld around the world.” — John Doolittle
76. There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.” — Alexander Hamilton
77. Well, look at what people are doing for returned veterans now. The wounded warriors. They’re working hard to make the wounded veterans feel that they are loved and welcomed home, unlike Vietnam. It was not a very kind, gentle world then. I think we are kinder and gentler. — Barbara Bush
78. “The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.“ – Abraham Lincoln
79. Tragically, the effort to make America and the world safer and to defend freedom around the world is not without an enormous cost to this Nation in terms primarily of lost lives and those who bear the scars and the wounds of war, and their families who must bear these losses. — John Warner
80. “It’s about how we treat our veterans every single day of the year. It’s about making sure they have the care they need and the benefits that they’ve earned when they come home. It’s about serving all of you as well as
81. — Barack Obamayou’ve served the United States of America.” – Barack Obama
82. “While we can never fully repay the debt owed to those who lost their lives defending our nation, we must do everything we can to uphold our commitment to those who’ve worn the uniform of this great nation and to their families who have made significant sacrifices on our behalf.” — Tammy Duckworth
83. “This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans. As a civilian, I owe an unpayable debt to all our military. […] Let’s all take a remembrance for all veterans who served or are serving, peacetime or wartime and gone or still with us.“ – Thomas M Smith
84. “Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches, or its romance.“ – Theodore Roosevelt
85. “Have you ever stopped to ponder the amount of blood spilled, the volume of tears shed, the degree of pain and anguish endured, the number of noble men and women lost in battle so that we as individuals might have a say in governing our country? Honor the lives sacrificed for your freedoms.“ – Richelle E. Goodrich
86. Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.” — Abraham Lincoln
87. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.” — Patrick Henry
88. “Tonight, when you go to bed, say a prayer that God watch over those who watch over us and thank them for their sacrifices, on and off the battlefield. Pray that they have a peaceful night, and will be home soon with their families who also share their burden. Without them, we would not have this moment.“ – Neil Leckman
89. “Memorial Day isn’t just about honoring veterans, it’s honoring those who lost their lives. Veterans had the fortune of coming home. For us, that’s a reminder of when we come home we still have a responsibility to serve. It’s a continuation of service that honors our country and those who fell defending it.” — Pete Hegseth
90. “Honor to the Soldier, and Sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as best he can, the same cause—honor to him, less only than to him, who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven and the storms of battle.” — Abraham Lincoln
91. “My own heroes are the dreamers, those men, and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results… but it is the effort that’s heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.“ – George R.R. Martin
92. “We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For the love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.” — James A. Garfield
93. We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause. — Ronald Reagan
94. We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause. — Ronald Reagan
95. “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We did not pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” – Ronald Reagan
96. Word to the Nation: Guard zealously your right to serve in the Armed Forces, for without them, there will be no other rights to guard.” — John F. Kennedy
97. These fallen heroes represent the character of a nation who has a long history of patriotism and honor – and a nation who has fought many battles to keep our country free from threats of terror.” — Michael N. Castle
98. To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with lots of pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations. — Woodrow Wilson
99. To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with lots of pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations. — Woodrow Wilson
100. War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” — J.R.R. Tolkien
101. I respect every soldier, from every country, who serves beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful, and America will not forget.” — George W. Bush
102. “Finally, I wish to remember the millions of Allied servicemen and prisoners of war who lived the story of the Second World War. Many of these men never came home; many others returned bearing emotional and physical scars that would stay with them for the rest of their lives. I come away from this book with the deepest appreciation for what these men endured, and what they sacrificed, for the good of humanity.“ – Laura Hillenbrand

Wrapping Up

As we remember the brave men and women who have served our country, let us also reflect on the words of some of our most influential leaders. These veterans day quotes help to honor those who have given so much for our freedoms. Let us never forget the sacrifices that have been made and continue to be made each day by our Armed Forces. Thank you to all who have served!