88+ Best Veteran Quotes: Exclusive Selection

Profoundly inspirational veteran quotes will challenge the way you think, and help guide you through any life experience.

Famous Veteran Quotes

Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices. Harry Truman

It’s about how we treat our veterans every single day of the year. It’s about making sure they have the care they need and the benefits that they’ve earned when they come home. It’s about serving all of you as well as you’ve served the United States of America. Barack Obama

America without her Soldiers would be like God without His angels. Claudia Pemberton

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. Joseph Campbell

The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude. Jeff Miller

It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle. Norman Schwarzkopf

The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment. Judd Gregg

Honoring the sacrifices many have made for our country in the name of freedom and democracy is the very foundation of Veterans Day. Charles B. Rangel

I respect every soldier, from every country, who serves beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful, and America will not forget. George W. Bush

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. Arthur Ashe

While we can never do enough to show gratitude to our nation’s defenders, we can always do a little more. Gary Sinise

The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment. Judd Gregg

Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world. A veteran doesn’t have that problem. Ronald Reagan

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it. Thucydides

Without heroes, we are all plain people. And don’t know how far we can go. Bernard Malamud

The sanctity of our battlefields, monuments, and veterans institutions is of utmost importance to preserve military history and pay respect to those who fought. Henry Waxman

If there is only one word to describe a military veteran, it would be ‘sacrifice.

The thing we all had in common wasn’t muscle; it was the will to do whatever it takes. Chris Kyle

On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free. Dan Lipinski

Heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history. Mary Roach

Heroes don’t wear capes or tights, they wear dog tags and combat boots.

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. Nathan Hale

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. Cynthia Ozick

Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go. Bernard Malamud

This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans. Thomas M. Smith

Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. Douglas MacArthur

And the truth is that all veterans pay with their lives. Some pay all at once, while others pay over a lifetime. J.M. Storm

Never was so much owed by so many to so few. Winston Churchill

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. John F. Kennedy

Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history. Mary Roach

America’s veterans embody the ideals upon which America was founded more than 229 years ago. Steve Buyer

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. Joseph Campbell

Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but the Marines don’t have that problem. Ronald Reagan

My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place  police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces. Sidney Sheldon

America without her soldiers would be like God without his angels. Claudia Pemberton

May the flag wave boldly with its vibrant hues honoring veterans like you, with the beautiful red, white and blue!

For the first time in a long time, I felt like I had a purpose being in the Navy. It wasn’t about money and rank or prestige. It was about raising the flag. We do what we do because no one else can or will do it. We fight so others can sleep at night. Timothy Ciciora

A hero is someone who understands the responsibility that comes with his freedom. Bob Dylan

We can’t equate spending on veterans with spending on defense. Our strength is not just in the size of our defense budget, but in the size of our hearts, in the size of our gratitude for their sacrifice. And that’s not just measured in words or gestures. Jennifer Granholm

We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf. George Orwell

A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace. Theodore Roosevelt

Never was so much owed by so many to so few.Winston Churchill

America’s finest  our men and women in uniform, are a force for good throughout the world, and that is nothing to apologize for. Sarah Palin

Honoring the sacrifices many have made for our country in the name of freedom and democracy is the very foundation of Veterans Day. Charles B. Rangel

War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. J.R.R. Tolkien

America’s veterans embody the ideals upon which America was founded more than 229 years ago. Steve Buyer

I respect every soldier, from every country, who serves beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful, and America will not forget. George W. Bush

While only one day of the year is dedicated solely to honoring our veterans, Americans must never forget the sacrifices that many of our fellow countrymen have made to defend our country and protect our freedoms. Randy Neugebauer

This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans. Thomas M. Smith

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. Harry Truman

America’s Veterans have served their country with the belief that democracy and freedom are ideals to be upheld around the world. John Doolittle

Soldiers, when committed to a task, can’t compromise. It’s unrelenting devotion to the standards of duty and courage, absolute loyalty to others, not letting the task go until it’s been done. John Keegan

We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause. Ronald Reagan

Some people dream the dream. Some people live the dream. Some people defend the dream. God bless the defenders.

Spending time with America’s soldiers is always inspiring. John Boehner

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve all others at whatever cost. Arthur Ashe

The young patriots now returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other deployments worldwide are joining the ranks of veterans to whom America owes an immense debt of gratitude. Steve Buyer

We will not tire, we will not falter, we will not fail. George W. Bush

Tragically, the effort to make America and the world safer and to defend freedom around the world is not without an enormous cost to this Nation in terms primarily of lost lives and those who bear the scars and the wounds of war, and their families who must bear these losses. John Warner

Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history. John McCain

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form or a readiness to die. G.K. Chesterton

If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live. Martin Luther King Jr.

Fortune favors the brave. Terence

To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less. Andre Malraux

These fallen heroes represent the character of a nation who has a long history of patriotism and honor  and a nation who has fought many battles to keep our country free from threats of terror. Michael N. Castle

Those who stand for nothing fall for anything. Alexander Hamilton

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. John Quincy Adams

Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared to death. Gen. Omar Bradley

Freedom is never free.

Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons. Douglas MacArthur

Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause. Abraham Lincoln

The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. Douglas MacArthur

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave Patrick Henry

Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste death but once. William Shakespeare

We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf. George Orwell

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight it’s the size of the fight in the dog. President Dwight D. Eisenhower

My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place  police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces. Sidney Sheldon

Soldiers can sometimes make decisions that are smarter than the orders they have been given. Orson Scott Card, Enders Game

I think there is one higher office than President and I would call that patriot. Gary Hart

I am not afraid of an Army of lions lead by a sheep; I am afraid of sheep lead by a lion. Alexander the Great

This nation will remain the land of the free only as long as it is home of the brave. Elmer Davis

The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men. Minot J. Savage

Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be General Douglas MacArthur

Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid. Colonel David Hackworth

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war. Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman philosopher

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war. Lucius Annaeus Seneca