Ulysses S. Grant > Quotes

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

“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.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“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.”
― Grant, Ulysses S., Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant: All Volumes

“I only knew what was in my mind, and I wished to express it clearly”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten. Then he who continues the attack wins.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“I have never advocated war except as means of peace, so seek peace, but prepare for war. Because war... War never changes. War is like winter and winter is coming.”
― Ulysses S Grant

“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

“There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice.”
― Ulysses S. Grant, Memoirs and Selected Letters

“The great bulk of the legal voters of the South were men who owned no slaves; their homes were generally in the hills and poor country; their facilities for educating their children, even up to the point of reading and writing, were very limited; their interest in the contest was very meagre--what there was, if they had been capable of seeing it, was with the North; they too needed emancipation. Under the old regime they were looked down upon by those who controlled all the affairs in the interest of slave-owners, as poor white trash who were allowed the ballot so long as they cast it according to direction.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“I know only two tunes. One of them is 'Yankee Doodle' the other isn't.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“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.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“There never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“The distant rear of an army engaged in battle is not the best place from which to judge correctly what is going on in front.”
― Ulysses S. Grant, The Complete Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

“I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“THE CAUSE of the great War of the Rebellion against the United Status will have to be attributed to slavery. For some years before the war began it was a trite saying among some politicians that "A state half slave and half free cannot exist." All must become slave or all free, or the state will go down. I took no part myself in any such view of the case at the time, but since the war is over, reviewing the whole question, I have come to the conclusion that the saying is quite true.”
― Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs, Vol. 2

“The natural disposition of most people is to clothe a commander of a large army whom they do not know, with almost superhuman abilities. A large part of the National army, for instance, and most of the press of the country, clothed General Lee with just such qualities, but I had known him personally, and knew that he was mortal; and it was just as well that I felt this.”
― Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant - Volume 1

“The darkest day of my life was the day I heard of Lincoln's assassination. I did not know what it meant. Here was the rebellion put down in the field, and starting up in the gutters...”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“No other terms than unconditional and immediate surrender. I propose to move immediately upon your works.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“As time passes, people, even of the South, will begin to wonder how it was possible that their ancestors ever fought for or justified institutions which acknowledged the right of property in man.”
― Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant: All Volumes

“There are many men who would have done better than I did under the circumstances in which I found myself. If I had never held command, if I had fallen, there were 10,000 behind who would have followed the contest to the end and never surrendered the Union.”
― Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs

“The line between the Rebel and Union element in Georgetown was so marked that it led to divisions even in the churches. There were churches in that part of Ohio where treason was preached regularly, and where, to secure membership, hostility to the government, to the war and to the liberation of the slaves, was far more essential than a belief in the authenticity or credibility of the Bible. There were men in Georgetown who filled all the requirements for membership in these churches.”
― Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs, Vol. 1

“The great bulk of the legal voters of the South were men who owned no slaves; their homes were generally in the hills and poor country; their facilities for educating their children, even up to the point of reading and writing, were very limited; their interest in the contest was very meagre--what there was, if they had been capable of seeing it, was with the North; they too needed emancipation.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“To maintain peace in the future it is necessary to be prepared for war.”
― Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant: All Volumes

“Encourage free schools and resolve that not one dollar of money appropriated to their support no matter how raised, shall be appropriated to the support of any sectarian school...Leave the matter of religion to the family circle, the church & the private school support[ed] entirely by private contribution. Keep the church and state forever separate.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“the most confident critics are generally those who know the least about the matter criticised.”
― Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant, Includes Both Volumes

“General Lee was dressed in a full uniform which was entirely new, and was wearing a sword of considerable value, very likely the sword which had been presented by the State of Virginia; at all events, it was an entirely different sword from the one that would ordinarily be worn in the field. In my rough traveling suit, the uniform of a private with the straps of a lieutenant-general, I must have contrasted very strangely with a man so handsomely dressed, six feet high and of faultless form. But this was not a matter that I thought of until afterwards.”
― Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant: All Volumes

“Two commanders on the same field are always one too many.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“The framers of our Constitution firmly believed that a republican government could not endure without intelligence and education generally diffused among the people. The Father of his Country, in his Farewell Address, uses this language: Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.”
― Ulysses S. Grant

“The fact is I think I am a verb instead of a personal pronoun. A verb is anything that signifies to be; to do; to suffer. I signify all three.”
― Ulysses S. Grant