Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Robert E. Lee (American Military General)

Robert Edward Lee (1807–70) was the General-in-Chief of the Confederate armies in the American Civil War of 1861–65. As the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, the most successful of the Southern armies, Lee exhibited great strategic sense and tactical skills that place him among the great military captains of history.

Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Lee was educated at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He worked for the Engineer Corps, fought in the Mexican War of 1846–48, and then became Superintendent of West Point. At the onset of the Civil War, when the Southern states seceded from the Union, Lee resigned from the U.S. Army so he would be free to serve his native state of Virginia, in spite of his opposition to slavery and secession.

Lee took the position of commander-in-chief of the Confederate Army of Virginia. In February 1865, he became commander-in-chief of all of the Southern armies, but the Confederate cause was uncertain at that point. Two months later, Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on 9-April-1865—this is generally regarded as signifying the end of the Civil War.

After the war, Lee became president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia. As the icon of a defeated Southern people, Lee served as an example of resilience and high-mindedness during the distress and the bitterness of the war’s aftereffects.

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Robert E. Lee

Abandon your animosities and make your sons Americans.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: America, Forgiveness

A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Honor

I have been up to see the Congress and they do not seem to be able to do anything except to eat peanuts and chew tobacco, while my army is starving.
—Robert E. Lee

I like whiskey. I always did, and that is why I never drink it.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Alcohol, Alcoholism

I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Control

We have fought this fight as long, and as well, as we know how. We have been defeated. There is now but one course to pursue. We must accept the situation.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Success, Acceptance

Let the tent be struck.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Last Words, Famous Last Words

I have been up to see the (Confederate) Congress, and they do not seem to be able to do anything except to eat peanuts and chew tobacco, while my army is starving.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: America

Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly, to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Disappointment, Remorse, Regret

Duty is the sublimest word in the language. You can never do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less.
—Robert E. Lee

Act with a determination not to be turned aside by thoughts of the past and fears of the future.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Perseverance

There is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths.
—Robert E. Lee

We have fought this fight as long, and as well as we know how. We have been defeated. For us as a Christian people, there is now but one course to pursue. We must accept the situation.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Losing, Losers, Loss

Wisdom is nothing more than healed pain.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Wisdom, One liners, Pain

We failed, but in the good providence of God apparent failure often proves a blessing.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Failure

It is well that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: War

My experiences of men has neither disposed me to think worse of them nor be indisposed to serve them: nor, in spite of failures which I lament, of errors which I now see and acknowledge, or the present aspect of affairs, do I despair of the future. The truth is this: The march of Providence is so slow and our desires so impatient; the work of progress so immense and our means of aiding it so feeble; the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: History

In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Bible

Obedience to lawful authority is the foundation of manly character.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Authority

Private and public life are subject to the same rules; and truth and manliness are two qualities that will carry you through this world much better than policy, or tact, or expediency, or any other word that was ever devised to conceal or mystify a deviation from the straight line.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Honesty

My experience through life has convinced me that, while moderation and temperance in all things are commendable and beneficial, abstinence from spirituous liquors is the best safeguard of morals and health.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Alcohol, Alcoholism

The trite saying that honesty is the best policy has met with the just criticism that honesty is not policy. The real honest man is honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Honesty, Criticism

What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: War

The education of a man is never complete until he dies.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Education

Still a Union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets, and in which strife and civil war are to take the place of brotherly love and kindness, has no charm for me.
—Robert E. Lee

True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another, and the motive which impels themthe desire to do rightis precisely the same.
—Robert E. Lee

The devil’s name is dullness.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Boredom, Bores

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or to keep one.
—Robert E. Lee
Topics: Friends and Friendship

Wondering Whom to Read Next?

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *