Selected Robert E Lee Quotes
Robert E Lee- Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War in which towards the end he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Northern Virginia—the Confederacy's most powerful army—from 1862 until its surrender in 1865, earning himself a reputation as a skilled tactician.
A son of Revolutionary War officer Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III, he was a top graduate of the United States Military Academy and was an exceptional officer and military engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. He served across the United States, distinguishing himself extensively during the Mexican–American War, and was Superintendent of the United States Military Academy. He married Mary Anna Custis Lee, great-granddaughter of George Washington's wife Martha.
He opposed slavery from a philosophical perspective, but he supported its legality and held hundreds of slaves himself. When Virginia declared secession from the Union in 1861, he chose to follow his home state, despite his desire for the country to remain intact and an offer of a senior Union command. During the first year of the Civil War, he served in minor combat operations and as a senior military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia in June 1862 during the Peninsula Campaign following the wounding of Joseph E. Johnston. By April 1865 Lee's army was already largely destroyed. He finally surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House.
In 1865, he became president of Washington College which is now Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. In this position, he supported reconciliation between North and South. He accepted the extinction of slavery provided for by the Thirteenth Amendment, but opposed racial equality for African Americans. After his death in 1870, he became a cultural icon in the South and is largely hailed as one of the Civil War's greatest generals.
He fought most of his battles against armies of significantly larger size as the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, and managed to win many of them. In spite of his success, his two major strategic offensives into Union territory both ended in failure. His aggressive and risky tactics, especially at Gettysburg, which resulted in high casualties at a time when the Confederacy had a shortage of manpower, have come under criticism.
Selected Robert E Lee Quotes:
“Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly, to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave without regret.”
Robert E Lee, Goals
“Shake off those gloomy feelings. Drive them away. Fix your mind and pleasures upon what is before you. All is bright if you will think it so. All is happy if you will make it so. Do not dream. It is too ideal, too imaginary. Dreaming by day, I mean. Live in the world you inhabit. Look upon things as they are. Take them as you find them. Make the best of them. Turn them to your advantage.”
Robert E Lee, Goals
“Go home all you boys who fought with me and help build up the shattered fortunes of our old state.”
― Robert E. Lee, The Wit and Wisdom of Robert E. Lee
Robert E Lee, Goals
“Obedience to lawful authority is the foundation of manly character.”
Robert E Lee, Goals
“I like whiskey. I always did, and that is why I never drink it.”
Robert E Lee, Goals
“Never do a wrong thing to make a friend--or to keep one.”
Robert E Lee, Goals, Friendship
“Read history, works of truth, not novels and romances.”
Robert E Lee, Goals, Intelligence/Wisdom
“I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.”
Robert E Lee, Management
“Why, sir, in the beginning we appointed all our worst generals to command the armies, and all our best generals to edit the newspapers. As you know, I have planned some campaigns and quite a number of battles. I have given the work all the care and thought I could, and sometimes, when my plans were completed, as far as I could see, they seemed to be perfect. But when I have fought them through, I have discovered defects and occasionally wondered I did not see some of the defects in advance. When it was all over, I found by reading a newspaper that these best editor generals saw all the defects plainly from the start. Unfortunately, they did not communicate their knowledge to me until it was too late.” Then, after a pause, he added, with a beautiful, grave expression I can never forget: “I have no ambition but to serve the Confederacy, and do all I can to win our independence. I an willing to serve in any capacity to which the authorities may assign me. I have done the best I could in the field, and have not succeeded as I could wish. I am willing to yield my place to these best generals, and I will do my best for the cause in editing a newspaper.”
In the same strain he once remarked to one of his generals: “Even as poor a soldier as I am can generally discover mistakes after it is all over. But if I could only induce these wise gentlemen who see them so clearly beforehand to communicate with me in advance, instead of waiting until the evil has come upon us, to let me know that they knew all the time, it would be far better for my reputation, and (what is of more consequence) far better for the cause.”
Robert E Lee, Anger and Fighting
“Cadets can neither be treated as schoolboys or soldiers.”
Robert E Lee, Anger and Fighting
“We all thought Richmond, protected as it was by our splendid fortifications and defended by our army of veterans, could not be taken. Yet Grant turned his face to our Capital, and never turned it away until we had surrendered. Now, I have carefully searched the military records of both ancient and modern history, and have never found Grant's superior as a general. I doubt that his superior can be found in all history.”
Robert E Lee, Anger and Fighting
“It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.”
Robert E Lee, Anger and Fighting
“The education of a man ( or woman ) is never completed until he dies.”
Robert E Lee, Intelligence/Wisdom
“I can only say that I am nothing but a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone for salvation.”
Robert E Lee, Belief
“True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another, and the motive which impels them the desire to do right is precisely the same.”
Robert E Lee, Life
“All motion is relative. Perhaps it is you who have moved away-by standing still.”
― Robert E. Lee, Inherit the Wind: The Powerful Courtroom Drama in which Two Men Wage the Legal War of the Century
Robert E Lee, Life
“There is a true glory and a true honor: the glory of duty done--the honor of the integrity of principle.”
Robert E Lee, Life
“It is easier to make our wishes conform to our means than to make our means conform to our wishes.”
Robert E Lee, Life
“It's the loneliest feeling in the world-to find yourself standing up when everybody else is sitting down. To have everybody look at you and say, 'What's the matter with him?' I know. I know what it feels like. Walking down an empty street, listening to the sound of your own footsteps. Shutters closed, blinds drawn, doors locked against you. And you aren't sure whether you're walking toward something, or if you're just walking away.”
― Robert E. Lee, Inherit the Wind: The Powerful Courtroom Drama in which Two Men Wage the Legal War of the Century
Robert E Lee, Life
“My experiences of men has neither disposed me to think worse of them nor be indisposed to serve them: nor, in spite of failures which I lament, of errors which I now see and acknowledge, or the present aspect of affairs, do I despair of the future. The truth is this: The march of Providence is so slow and our desires so impatient; the work of progress so immense and our means of aiding it so feeble; the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope.”
Robert E Lee, Life, Hope
“The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman.
The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly--the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the men in a plain light.
The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past. A true man of honor feels humbled when he cannot help humbling others.”
Robert E Lee, Power
“The consolidation of the states into one vast empire, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of ruin which has overwhelmed all that preceded it.”
Robert E Lee, Government
“The time is not come for impartial history. If the truth were told just now, it would not be credited.”