Ulysses S. Grant Quotes

As soon as slavery fired upon the flag it was felt, we all felt, even those who did not object to slaves, that slavery must be destroyed. We felt that it was a stain to the Union that men should be bought and sold like cattle.

Two commanders on the same field are always one too many.

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

Quit thinking about what Bobby Lee’s gonna do to us and start thinking about what we’re going to do to him.

… anything is better than indecision. We must decide. If I am wrong, we shall soon find out and can do the other thing. But not to decide wastes both time and money and may ruin everything.

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

I have nothing to do with opinions. I deal only with armed rebellion and its aiders and abettors.

Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions.

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.

Let us have peace.

My failures have been errors in judgment, not of intent.

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

I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse.

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.

It is preposterous to suppose that the people of one generation can lay down the best and only rules of government for all who are to come after them, and under unforeseen contingencies.

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.

The will of the people is the best law.

I would suggest the taxation of all property equally, whether church or corporation, exempting only the last resting place of the dead and possibly, with proper restrictions, church edifices.

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

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

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

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.

If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.

Cheap cigars come in handy; they stifle the odor of cheap politicians.

I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.

I will not move my army without onions.

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.

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.

The most confident critics are generally those who know the least about the matter criticized.

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

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.

God gave us Lincoln and Liberty, let us fight for both.

Declare Church and State forever separate and distinct, but each free within their proper spheres, and that all church property shall bear its own proportion of taxation.