Henry Ward Beecher Quotes

David Robinson chose to stay at Navy. He talked about commitment, loyalty and values. I wonder how many of us would choose these virtues rather than the chance of becoming a millionaire, especially if you were a college sophomore when you had to make that choice.

My greatest happiness is to serve my gracious King and Country and I am envious only of glory; for if it be a sin to covet glory I am the most offending soul alive.

I'll take anyway to get into the Hall of Fame. If they want a batboy, I'll go in as a batboy.

An insatiable appetite for glory leads to sacrifice and death, but innate instinct leads to self-preservation and life.

Defender of the liberty that I idolize, myself more free than anyone, in coming as a friend to offer my services to this intriguing republic, I bring to it only my frankness and my good will; no ambition, no self-interest; in working for my glory, I work for their happiness.

My friends are not worth the powder and shot it would take to kill them. If there were two Henry Clays, one of them would make the other President of the United States.

I love war because of the fame that goes with it; but were I not a Prince I should devote myself entirely to philosophy. After all, every one in this world must have his trade.

Your brother Bobby gave you his lifeblood. By God, he deserves to be Attorney General, and by God, that’s what he’s going to be. Do you understand that?

He [Lincoln] has doctrines, not hatreds, and is without ambition except to do good and serve his country.

You can have no idea of the spirit which animates our military officers. They are no longer the men you knew. They are men who have fought for years and believe themselves superior; and yet they are humiliated and impoverished, with no hope of enjoying the fruits of the work of their lances. They are often resolute llaneros, ignorant men who think themselves superior to those of greater accomplishments. Even I, who have always been at their head, cannot say of what they might be capable. I treat them with the greatest consideration, but it doesn’t seem to inspire them with the spirit which ought to exist among comrades and fellow citizens. Believe me... we are over a volcano about to erupt. I fear peace even more than I fear war.

I never really sought out the captaincy at any stage in my career. Now that it has been handed to me, I would obviously like to do it justice and keep performing well. The day I stop performing will be the day I happily relinquish the role.

I had dreams of becoming an officer and a gentleman. But hey: One out of two ain't bad.

I'm proud playing for the country, and I want to represent them as much as I can.

They'll kill for that knighthood, but don't ever think they'll die for it.

The ambitious sacrifices all to what he terms honor, as the miser all to money.

You can have it all but how much do you want it?

And if your life is a suitable exchange for my honor, why is my honor not a suitable exchange for your life?

Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. . . look to Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.

To achieve anything great in life you must be willing to make a sacrifice.

For this mortal I would disobey my queen, abandon my king, the court that has protected me all these years. All of it.

Necessity has a way of obliterating from our conduct various delicate scruples regarding honor and pride.

When you lose your face..., it is like dropping your necklace down a well. The only way you can get it back is to fall in after it.

If it is necessary to die in order to live like men, what harm in dying?

Without courage, honor, compassion, pity, love and sacrifice, as William Faulkner pointed out, we know not of love, but lust. We debase our audience. But we can ennoble and enrich our viewers and ourselves in our journey through this good time, this precious time, this great and wonderful experience we call life.

I'm a workaholic because I don't want to not work. When you come from basically nothing and you have so much good things happening for you sometimes you have to sacrifice.