Best 83 quotes of Ulysses S. Grant on MyQuotes

A hero does for others. He would do anything for people he loves, because he knows it would make their lives better. I am not that kind of person, but I want you to be. You could give something to her, to me, to those children in the quarter. You could give something I never could ... The white people out there are saying you don't have it-that you're a hog, not a man. But I know they are wrong.

Ah, you know my weaknesses--my children and my horses.

All secret oath-bound political parties are dangerous to any nation, no matter how pure or how patriotic the motives and principles which first bring them together.

A military life had no charms for me, and I had not the faintest idea of staying in the army even if I should be graduated, which I did not expect.

...but for a soldier his duty is plain. He is to obey the orders of all those placed over him and whip the enemy wherever he meets him.

But my later experience has taught me two lessons: first, that things are seen plainer after the events have occurred; second, that the most confident critics are generally those who know the least about the matter criticised.

Declare church and state forever separate and distinct; but each free within their proper spheres.

Encourage free schools and resolve that not one dollar appropriated for their support shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian schools. Resolve that neither the state nor nation, nor both combined, shall support institutions of learning other than those sufficient to afford every child growing up in the land of opportunity of a good common school education, unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheistical dogmas. 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.

England and the United States are natural allies, and should be the best of friends.

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.

How do people come up with a date and a time to take life from another man? . . . Twelve white men say a black man must die, and another white man sets the date and time without consulting one black person. . . . They sentence you to death because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, with no proof that you had anything at all to do with the crime . . . . Yet six months later they come and unlock your cage and tell you, We, us, white folks all, have decided it's time for you to die, because this is the convenient date and time.

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.

I believe that our Great Maker is preparing the world, in His own good time, to become one nation, speaking one language, and when armies and navies will be no longer required.

I desire the good-will of all, whether hitherto my friends or not.

I don't underrate the value of military knowledge, but if men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail.

I feel that we are on the eve of a new era, when there is to be great harmony between the Federal and Confederate. I cannot stay to be a living witness to the correctness of this prophecy; but I feel it within me that it is to be so.

If men make war in slavish observance of rules, they will fail. No rules will apply to conditions of war as different as those which exist in Europe and America...War is progressive, because all the instruments and elements of war are progressive.

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

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.

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

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

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

I leave comparisons to history, claiming only that I have acted in every instance from a conscientious desire to do what was right, constitutional, within the law, and for the very best interests of the whole people. Failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent.

In 1850, I believe, the church property in the United States, which paid no tax, amounted to $87 million. In 1900, without a check, it is safe to say, this property will reach a sum exceeding $3 billion. I would suggest the taxation of all property equally.

In 1856...I preferred the success of a candidate whose election would prevent or postpone secession, to seeing the country plunged into a war the end of which no man could foretell. With a Democrat elected by the unanimous vote of the Slave States, there could be no pretext for secession for four years.... I therefore voted for James Buchanan as President.

...I never heard him abuse an enemy. Some of the cruel things said about President Lincoln, particularly in the North, used to pierce him to the heart; but never in my presence did he evince a revengeful disposition.

I never knew what to do with a paper except to put it in a side pocket or pass it to a clerk who understood it better than I did.

I never wanted to get out of a place as much as I did to get out of the presidency.

In politics I am growing indifferent - I would like it, if I could now return to my planting and books at home

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

I read the story and reread the story, but I still could not find the universality that the little Irishman had spoken of. All I saw in the story was some Irishmen meeting in a room and talking politics. What had that to do with America, especially with my people? It was not until years later that I saw what he meant ... I began to listen, to listen closely to how they talked about their heroes, to how they talked about the dead and how great the dead had once been. I heard it everywhere.

I suppose this work is part of the devil that is in us all.

It does look like a very good exercise. But what is the little white ball for?

It is men who wait to be selected, and not those who seek, from whom we may expect the most efficient service.

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.

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

I will not move my army without onions.

I will raid the arsenal and start a war to end slavery.

I would like to call your attention to ... an evil that, if allowed to continue, will probably lead to great trouble ... It is the accumulation of vast amounts of untaxed church property.

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.

I would suggest the taxation of all property equally whether church or corporation.

Jesse has a new dog. You may have noticed that his former pets have been peculiarly unfortunate. When this dog dies every employee in the White House will be at once discharged.

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.

Lee's army will be your objective point. Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also.

Let no guilty man escape if it can be avoided. Be specially vigilant-or instruct those engaged in the prosecution of fraud to be-against all who insinuate that they have high influence to protect-or to protect them. No personal consideration should stand in the way of performing a public duty.

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

My family is American, and has been for generations, in all its branches, direct and collateral

Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions.

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

No theory of my own will ever stand in the way of my executing, in good faith, any order I may receive from those in authority over me.