Your favourite historical quotes.

"Mr Lely, I desire you would use all your skill to paint your picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughness, pimples, warts, and everything as you see me; otherwise I will never pay a farthing for it."

Cromwell on having his portrait painted.

Supposedly the origin of the saying "Warts and All".

Mike.

What I would prefer is you should fix your eyes every day on the greatness of Athens as she really is, and fall in love with her. When you realize her greatness, then reflect what made her great were men with a spirit of adventure, men who knew their duty, men who were ashamed to fall below a certain standard. If they ever failed in an enterprise, they made up their minds that at any rate the city would not find their courage lacking to her, and they gave to her the best contribution that they could. They gave her their lives, to her and to all of us, and for their own selves they won praises that never grow old, the most splendid of sepulchers- not the sepulcher where their body is laid but where their glory remains eternal in men’s minds, always there on the right occasion to stir others to speech or to action.

Thucydides, the Funeral Oration

http://online.hillsdale.edu/document.doc?id=355

Thucydides wrote:

What I would prefer is you should fix your eyes every day on the greatness of Athens as she really is, and fall in love with her. When you realize her greatness, then reflect what made her great were men with a spirit of adventure, men who knew their duty, men who were ashamed to fall below a certain standard. If they ever failed in an enterprise, they made up their minds that at any rate the city would not find their courage lacking to her, and they gave to her the best contribution that they could. They gave her their lives, to her and to all of us, and for their own selves they won praises that never grow old, the most splendid of sepulchers- not the sepulcher where their body is laid but where their glory remains eternal in men’s minds, always there on the right occasion to stir others to speech or to action.

Thucydides, the Funeral Oration

That's not how the Spartans tell it...

This is still my favorite quote of all time. Probably because I first read it in a short story collection by Louis L'Lamour, "Duffy's Man" at a formative age.

Patrick Henry in 1775 wrote:They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? ...

Of course the only thing people remember out of that speech is the last line, "... Give me liberty or give me death!"

Which [Edit]the speech[Edit] a fine use of hyperbola but it can be applied to any situation in any numbers. Which is what L'Lamour did. Or really to any political movement, IMO. I'll stop there as I am going into politics.

Enjoy all,
T2M

Imaginos1892 wrote:That's not how the Spartans tell it...

No, they were far more economical with words:

Got tell the Spartans,
Stranger passing by,
That here,
Obedient to their laws,
We lie

"Every anarchist is a baffled dictator."

Benito Mussolini.

Mike.

Thucydides wrote:

Imaginos1892 wrote:That's not how the Spartans tell it...

No, they were far more economical with words:

Got tell the Spartans,
Stranger passing by,
That here,
Obedient to their laws,
We lie

And sometimes they were even terser:

"Molon Labe" or, loosely translated, "Come and Take Them!"

--reportedly said by King Leonidas to the Persian demand for surrender.

But even the Spartans had nothing on BG McAuliffe of the 101st Airborne, when called on to surrender Bastonge to the German Army during the Battle of the Bulge, replied:

Nuts

Hmmm, not sure about that. Winnie had an bad tendency to get people killed because of his "great ideas"!!

Oh yeah, he had plenty on the charisma and determination side of leadership, but his strategy and tactics would not impress many.

The mess in Greece and the very unsuccessful attack through Italy were some of his very noticeable ****-ups.

(the attack through Italy wasn´t unsuccessful as such(just slow and hard fought), but it was originally meant to quickly bring wallied troops up north, towards Austria, Czechoslovakia and even Germany itself, and in that regard it failed beyond miserable)

Supposedly the origin of the saying "Warts and All".

Interesting, never seen that before.


**********
So, how about a few ACW quotes?


"It is well that war is so terrible--lest we should grow too fond of it."
Robert E. Lee


"Suppose that ball had struck you; we would have had the trouble of carrying you off the field, sir. You see how much better fixed for a fight I am than you are. It don't hurt a bit to be shot in a wooden leg."
Richard Ewell, after being shot in his peg leg




"Every moment lost is worth the life of a thousand men."
Nathan Bedford Forrest

Tenshinai wrote:

Hmmm, not sure about that. Winnie had an bad tendency to get people killed because of his "great ideas"!!

Oh yeah, he had plenty on the charisma and determination side of leadership, but his strategy and tactics would not impress many.

The mess in Greece and the very unsuccessful attack through Italy were some of his very noticeable ****-ups.

(the attack through Italy wasn´t unsuccessful as such(just slow and hard fought), but it was originally meant to quickly bring wallied troops up north, towards Austria, Czechoslovakia and even Germany itself, and in that regard it failed beyond miserable)

Supposedly the origin of the saying "Warts and All".

Interesting, never seen that before.

While he was a great political figure whose quotes will be used for centuries, he was also the architect of Gallipoli.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/BadassCreed/RealLife might be interesting for this in terms of not really quotes, but badass creeds.....

Hutch wrote:

And sometimes they were even terser:

"Molon Labe" or, loosely translated, "Come and Take Them!"

--reportedly said by King Leonidas to the Persian demand for surrender.

But even the Spartans had nothing on BG McAuliffe of the 101st Airborne, when called on to surrender Bastonge to the German Army during the Battle of the Bulge, replied:

Nuts