Michael Caine Quotes

My father was an air officer in the Second World War. My brother was a marine in Vietnam. When I was given this opportunity, I leapt at the chance because I thought it would be a hell of a lot more interesting than what my friends were doing.

As a former Airman First Class in the United States Air Force, like many veterans in America, my military experience played an important part in instilling in me a sense of character and discipline that has served me throughout my life.

My experience in uniform has shaped my life and informed who I am like no other, and it's difficult for me to wrap my mind around the idea that I will no longer be a soldier.

When soldiers have been baptized in the fire of a battle-field, they have all one rank in my eyes.

As a veteran, I know firsthand the satisfaction there is in defending the democracy you so strongly believe in, but I can also attest to the trauma encountered from combat on the battlefield.

There is only one Army in which you serve. When that identity is gone, it is gone forever.

As young West Point cadets, our motto was 'duty, honor, country.' But it was in the field, from the rice paddies of Southeast Asia to the sands of the Middle East, that I learned that motto's fullest meaning. There I saw gallant young Americans of every race, creed and background fight, and sometimes die, for 'duty, honor, and their country.'

I came from a family of Marines into the family of Marines.

Spending time with America's soldiers is always inspiring.

When I meet someone from the army background, there is an instant connection. We live in the best five-star hotels of the world, but outside my home I will be equally comfortable in any army cantonment or army guest house. Telling my friends that my father was in the army was like telling them that he is the second-richest man in the world.

War was my university. Everything has proceeded from there.

Battle is the soldier's vital breath! Peace turns him into a stooping asthmatic. War makes him a whole man again, and gives him the heart, strength, and vigor of a hero.

Look, many of us here are regular marines... I will die as a marine because that is my dream.

Everything starts and finishes with the soldier.

I never thought anyone would pity me because of my time in the Marine Corps.

I would not trade you a billion dollars for the kids I led to combat in Vietnam or in fact any of the Marines that I served with for a quarter of a century.

Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people—and kill them.

One day, you'll get out of the Marine Corps; you'll put your uniform up, but you'll never not be a Marine.

The experience of being in the Army changed my whole life; I never believed that an organization such as ours could ever go to war, leave alone win it. It was, as Yeats remarked of the Easter Rising, 'A terrible beauty.'

I'm proud to have served there for 12 months with Alpha Company of the 39th Infantry.

I've learned our soldiers are so much like everybody else. They're just put into an extreme situation.

Any time I can spend time with my brothers and sisters who fight for this country and fight for freedom, it's a positive thing.

Talking to people who have served was eye-opening and left me with a huge amount of respect for what they do.

Everything I do in my political life is colored by my military service. It was the defining moment in my life and helped me develop the leadership skills that I still utilize.

The military is a path of the unknown. I wasn't in denial about the risk.