Frank Knox Quotes

The United States has the largest and best navy in the world.

Those of you who are in public life have a right to be here at this celebration today only if you are prepared to do your part in building up the Navy of the present.

The Commonwealth of Venice in their armoury have this inscription, "Happy is that city which in time of peace thinks of war.

I believe that a navy is the greatest insurer of peace that we could possibly have—a navy commensurate with our resources and commensurate with the number of dependencies we have and commensurate with our population and commensurate with our influence as a world power.

The Silent Service is all together too silent. It's important to begin to highlight the critical importance of the Silent Service to our national security.

Well, you know, any defense force worth its salt has to be able to deal with uncertainty, has to be able to deal with events that we may not have planned for.

Getting our military back on stable footing won't happen overnight. We must start this process now, since future engagements are likely and allies are scarce.

The president's very right about one thing: When you have a disaster of that scale, whether it be natural or a terrorist attack, there's only one part of our entire government, state or local, that is equipped to handle it, and that's the U.S. military.

The National Defense Act of 1916 left the United States with a General Staff of 19 officers, against Germany's 650.

The firmest security of peace is the preparation during peace of the defenses of war.

One sailor will do us more good than two soldiers. A navy is our natural and only defense.

The only weapon with which we can expect to cope with other great nations is the Navy.

A certain degree of preparation for war ... affords also the best security for the continuance of peace.

It is necessarily requisite to the peoples defense, that they be fore-armed. Now to be fore-armed is to be furnished with Soldiers, Armies, Ships, Forts and Monies, before the danger be instant; for the listing of Soldiers, and taking up of Arms after a blow is given, is too late at least, if not impossible.

We have not the navy, and, what is worse, we are not willing to have the navy, that will weigh seriously in any disputes with those nations whose interests will there conflict with our own.

Our military plans for everything.

A naval power, next to the militia, is the natural defense of the United States.

Although a precise outlook on the international situation is hard for anyone to make, it is needless to say that now the time has come for the Navy, especially the Combined Fleet, to devote itself seriously to war preparations, training, and operational plans with a firm determination that a conflict with the U.S. and Great Britain is inevitable.

What we can afford least is to define the problem of future war as we would like it to be and, by doing so, introduce into our defense vulnerabilities based on self-delusion.

Having witnessed first-hand the prowess of the Western Fleet, I am confident that the Indian Navy is fully capable of defending the nation against any form of threat.

The surest way to deter adversary aggression is to fully prepare for war.

The bottom line, addressing defense spending cuts with a meat ax like sequestration will damage defense readiness for decades to come.

I'm armed and ready when my number is called.

Modernizing the U.S. Navy is a key component of rebuilding our military.

Preparation for defense is an inalienable prerogative of a sovereign state.