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Say What You Mean To Do...and Take It For Granted You Mean To Do Right. Never Do A Wrong Thing To Make A Friend Or Keep One...you Will Wrong Him And Wrong Yourself By Equivocation Of Any Kind.

-Robert E. Lee

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Say What You Mean

Robert E. Lee

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Say What You Mean To Do...and Take It For Granted You Mean To Do Right. Never Do A Wrong Thing To Make A Friend Or Keep One...you Will Wrong Him And Wrong Yourself By Equivocation Of Any Kind.

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My Chief Concern Is To Try To Be An Humble, Earnest Christian.

It Is Glorious To See Such Courage In One So Young.

I Believe It To Be The Duty Of Everyone To Unite In The Restoration Of The Country And The Reestablishment Of Peace And Harmony.

He Has Lost His Left Arm, But I My Right.

We Must Expect Reverses, Even Defeats. They Are Sent To Teach Us Wisdom And Prudence, To Call Forth Greater Energies, And To Prevent Our Falling Into Greater Disasters.

You Have Only Always To Do What Is Right. It Will Become Easier By Practice, And You Enjoy In The Midst Of Your Trials The Pleasure Of An Approving Conscience.

While We See The Course Of The Final Abolition Of Human Slavery Is Onward, & We Give It The Aid Of Our Prayers & All Justifiable Means In Our Power, We Must Leave The Progress As Well As The Result In His Hands Who Sees The End; Who Chooses To Work By Slow Influences; & With Whom Two Thousand Years Are But As A Single Day.

We Must Forgive Our Enemies. I Can Truly Say That Not A Day Has Passed Since The War Began That I Have Not Prayed For Them.

My Experience Through Life Has Convinced Me That, While Moderation And Temperance In All Things Are Commendable And Beneficial, Abstinence From Spirituous Liquors Is The Best Safeguard Of Morals And Health.

You Must Be Careful How You Walk And Where You Go, For There Are Those Following You Who Will Set Their Feet Where Yours Are Set.

It Is History That Teaches Us To Hope.

For I Consider The Character Of No Man Affected By A Want Of Success, Provided He Has Made An Honest Effort To Succeed.

We Cannot Afford To Be Idle, And Though Weaker Than Our Opponents In Men And Military Equipments, Must Endeavor To Harass, If We Cannot Destroy Them.

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.

A Man May Manifest And Communicate His Joy, But He Should Conceal And Smother His Grief As Much As Possible.

I Have Always Observed That Wherever You Find The Negro, Everything Is Going Down Around Him, And Wherever You Find The White Man, You See Everything Around Him Improving.

You Cannot Be A True Man Until You Learn To Obey.

You See What A Poor Sinner I Am, And How Unworthy To Possess What Was Given Me; For That Reason It Has Been Taken Away.

There Is No More Dangerous Experiment Than That Of Undertaking To Be One Thing Before A Man's Face And Another Behind His Back.

Say What You Mean To Do...and Take It For Granted You Mean To Do Right. Never Do A Wrong Thing To Make A Friend Or Keep One...you Will Wrong Him And Wrong Yourself By Equivocation Of Any Kind.

With All My Devotion To The Union, And The Feeling Of Loyalty And Duty Of An American Citizen, I Have Not Been Able To Make Up My Mind To Raise My Hand Against My Relative, My Children, My Home. I Have, Therefore, Resigned My Commission In The Army.

What A Glorious World Almighty God Has Given Us. How Thankless And Ungrateful We Are, And How We Labor To Mar His Gifts.

No Day Should Be Lived Unless It Was Begun With A Prayer Of Thankfulness And An Intercession For Guidance.

I Will Attack No Matter What And Win The War!

I Can Anticipate No Greater Calamity For The Country Than The Dissolution Of The Union. It Would Be An Accumulation Of All The Evils We Complain Of, And I Am Willing To Sacrifice Everything But Honor For Its Preservation.

I Am As Willing To Serve Now As In The Beginning In Any Capacity And At Any Post Where I Can Do Good. The Lower The Position, The More Suitable To My Ability And The More Agreeable To My Feelings.

Abandon Your Animosities And Make Your Sons Americans!

I Would Rather Die A Thousand Deaths Than Surrender.

History Teaches Us Hope.

Sir, If You Ever Presume Again To Speak Disrespectfully Of General Grant In My Presence, Either You Or I Will Sever His Connection With This University.

The Trite Saying That 'honesty Is The Best Policy' Has Met With The Just Criticism That Honesty Is Not Policy. The Seems To Be True. The Real Honest Man Is Honest From Conviction Of What Is Right, Not From Policy.

What A Beautiful World God, In His Loving Kindness To His Creatures, Has Given Us! What A Shame That Men Endowed With Reason And Knowledge Of Right Should Mar His Gifts.

Death, In Its Silent Sure March Is Fast Gathering Those Whom I Have Longest Loved, So That When He Shall Knock At My Door, I Will More Willingly Follow.

Lee Tells His Troops. After Four Years Of Arduous Service Marked By Unsurpassed Courage And Fortitude The Army Of Northern Virginia Has Been Compelled To Yield To Overwhelming Numbers And Resources.

I Endeavored To Give Thanks To Our Heavenly Father For All His Mercies To Me, For His Preservation Of Me Through All The Dangers I Have Passed, And All The Blessings Which He Has Bestowed Upon Me, For I Know I Fall Far Short Of My Obligations

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 Himself When He Cannot Help Humbling Others.

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.

Life Insurance Trusts I Consider Sacred. To Hazard The Property Of The Dead & To Lose The Scanty Earnings Of Fathers & Husbands, Who Have Toiled & Saved That They May Leave Something To Their Families Deprived Of Their Care & The Support Of Their Labour, Is To My Mind The Worst Of Crimes.

Many Opportunities Have Been Lost And Hundreds Of Valuable Lives Uselessly Sacrificed For Want Of A Strict Observance Of Discipline. Its Object Is To Enable An Army To Bring Promptly Into Action The Largest Possible Number Of Its Men, In Good Order And Under The Control Of Their Officers. Its Effects Are Visible In All Military History, Which Records The Triumphs Of Discipline And Courage Far More Frequently Than Those Of Numbers And Resources.

The Education Of A Man Is Never Completed Until He Dies.

I Am Now Considered Such A Monster, That I Hesitate To Darken With My Shadow, The Doors Of Those I Love, Lest I Should Bring Upon Them Misfortune.

The Questions Which For Years Were In Dispute Between The State And General Government, And Which Unhappily Were Not Decided By The Dictates Of Reason, But Referred To The Decision Of War, Having Been Decided Against Us, It Is The Part Of Wisdom To Acquiesce In The Result, And Of Candor To Recognize The Fact.

What A Cruel Thing War Is... To Fill Our Hearts With Hatred Instead Of Love For Our Neighbors.

You Cannot Barter Manhood For Peace.

The Real Honest Man Is Honest From Conviction Of What Is Right, Not From Policy.

I Should Not Be Trading On The Blood Of My Men.

The Time Is Not Come For Impartial History. If The Truth Were Told Just Now, It Would Not Be Credited.

It Is Good That War Is So Horrible, Or We Might Grow To Like It.

I Believe I May So, Looking Into My Own Heart, And Speaking As In The Presence Of God, That I Have Never Know One Moment Of Bitterness Or Resentment.

Such An Executive Officer The Sun Never Shone On. I Have But To Show Him My Design, And I Know That It Can Be Done, It Will Be Done...straight As The Needle To The Pole He Advanced To The Execution Of My Purpose.

We Must...submit Ourselves In Adversity To The Will Of A Merciful God As Cheerfully As In Prosperity.

We Have But One Rule Here, And That Is That Every Student Must Be A Gentleman.

As A General Principle You Should Not Force Young Men To Do Their Duty, But Let Them Do It Voluntarily And Thereby Develop Their Characters.

Teach Him To Deny Himself.

We Must Forgive Our Enemies.

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.

The Biggest Mistake Of My Life Was Taking A Military Education.

I Have Fought Against The People Of The North Because I Believed They Were Seeking To Wrest From The South Dearest Rights. But I Have Never Cherished Toward Them Bitter Or Vindictive Feelings. And Have Never Seen The Day When I Did Not Pray For Them.

We Must Enlist Our Own Snake And Strike Like A Cobra Against Their Vitals With An Attack On Washington.

I Tremble For My Country When I Hear Of Confidence Expressed In Me. I Know Too Well My Weakness, That Our Only Hope Is In God.

Duty Is The Sublimest Work In The English Language.

English Language

They Do Not Know What They Say. If It Came To A Conflict Of Arms, The War Will Last At Least Four Years. Northern Politicians Will Not Appreciate The Determination And Pluck Of The South, And Southern Politicians Do Not Appreciate The Numbers, Resources, And Patient Perseverance Of The North. Both Sides Forget That We Are All Americans. I Foresee That Our Country Will Pass Through A Terrible Ordeal, A Necessary Expiation, Perhaps, For Our National Sins.

We Have Only One Rule Here - To Act Like A Gentleman At All Times.

Remember, We Are All One Country Now. Dismiss From Your Mind All Sectional Feeling, And Bring Them Up To Be Americans.

Every Student Must Be A Gentleman.

Duty, Then Is The Sublimest Word In Our Language. Do Your Duty In All Things. You Cannot Do More; You Should Never Wish To Do Less.

All That The South Has Ever Desired Was That The Union, As Established By Our Forefathers, Should Be Preserved, And That The Government As Originally Organized Should Be Administered In Purity And Truth.

The Enemy Is Here, And If We Do Not Whip Him, He Will Whip Us.

It Is Well That War Is So Terrible. We Should Grow Too Fond Of It.

Act With A Determination Not To Be Turned Aside By Thoughts Of The Past And Fears Of The Future.

Why, It Appears That We Appointed All Of Our Worst Generals To Command The Armies And We Appointed All Of Our Best Generals To Edit The Newspapers. I Mean, I Found By Reading A Newspaper That These Editor Generals Saw All Of The Defects Plainly From The Start But Didn't Tell Me Until It Was Too Late. I'm Willing To Yield My Place To These Best Generals And I'll Do My Best For The Cause By Editing A Newspaper.

I Was Too Weak To Defend, So I Attacked

There Is Always Hazard In Military Activity, But We Must Decide Between The Positive Loss Of Inactivity And The Risk Of Action.

I Can Only Say That I Am Nothing But A Poor Sinner, Trusting In Christ Alone For Salvation.

Keep Steady In The View Of The Great Principles For Which You Contend. The Safety Of Your Homes And The Lives Of All You Hold Dear Depend Upon Your Courage And Exertions. Let Each Man Resolve To Be Victorious, And That The Right Of Self Government, Liberty And Peace Shall Find Him A Defender.

I Have Been Up To See The Congress And They Do Not Seem To Be Able To Do Anything Except To Eat Peanuts And Chew Tobacco, While My Army Is Starving.

There Are Things In The Old Book Which I May Not Be Able To Explain, But I Fully Accept It As The Infallible Word Of God, And Receive Its Teachings As Inspired By The Holy Spirit.

So Far From Engaging In A War To Perpetuate Slavery, I Am Rejoiced That Slavery Is Abolished. I Believe It Will Be Greatly For The Interest Of The South. So Fully Am I Satisfied Of This That I Would Have Cheerfully Lost All That I Have Lost By The War, And Have Suffered All That I Have Suffered To Have This Object Attained.

Wisdom Is Nothing More Than Healed Pain.

Read History, Works Of Truth, Not Novels And Romances

We Made A Great Mistake In The Beginning Of Our Struggle, And I Fear, In Spite Of All We Can Do, It Will Prove To Be A Fatal Mistake. We Appointed All Our Worst Generals To Command Our Armies, And All Our Best Generals To Edit The Newspapers

Never Do A Wrong Thing To Make A Friend Or To Keep One.

Everyone Should Do All In His Power To Collect And Disseminate The Truth, In The Hope That It May Find A Place In History And Descend To Posterity. History Is Not The Relation Of Campaigns And Battles And Generals Or Other Individuals, But That Which Shows The Principles For Which The South Contended And Which Justified Her Struggle For Those Principles.

Without Music, We Wouldn't Have An Army.

There Is Nothing Left For Me To Do But To Go And See General Grant And I Would Rather Die A Thousand Deaths.

What A Cruel Thing Is War: To Separate And Destroy Families And Friends, And Mar The Purest Joys And Happiness God Has Granted Us In This World; To Fill Our Hearts With Hatred Instead Of Love For Our Neighbors, And To Devastate The Fair Face Of This Beautiful World.

I Cannot Trust A Man To Control Others Who Cannot Control Himself.

Marry...into A Family That Will Enable Your Children To Feel Proud Of Both Sides Of The House.

The War... Was An Unnecessary Condition Of Affairs, And Might Have Been Avoided If Forebearance And Wisdom Had Been Practiced On Both Sides.

Respect Is Based On Friendship,and Friendship Is Based On Love And Love Is So Accidental Isn't It ?

Lost Friendship

Let Danger Never Turn You Aside From The Pursuit Of Honor Or The Service To Your Country ... Know That Death Is Inevitable And The Fame Of Virtue Is Immortal

We Failed, But In The Good Providence Of God Apparent Failure Often Proves A Blessing.

But What A Cruel Thing Is War To Separate And Destroy Families And Friends.

Family And Friends

A True Man Of Honor Feels Humbled Himself When He Cannot Help Humbling Others.

Ideas Are Easy To Conceive, Less Easy To Execute.

You Must Study To Be Frank With The World: Frankness Is The Child Of Honesty And Courage. Say Just What You Mean To Do On Every Occasion, And Take It For Granted That You Mean To Do Right.

I Consider The Proper Education Of Our Youths One Of The Most Important Objects Now To Be Attained And One From Which The Greatest Benefits May Be Expected.

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.

We Must Look To The Rising Generation For The Restoration Of The Country.

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.

There Is Scarcely Anything That Is Right That We Cannot Hope To Accomplish By Labor And Perseverance. But The First Must Be Earnest And The Second Unremitting.

I Am Of The Opinion That All Who Can Should Vote For The Most Intelligent, Honest, And Conscientious Men Eligible To Office, Irrespective Of Former Party Opinions, Who Will Endeavour To Make The New Constitutions And The Laws Passed Under Them As Beneficial As Possible To The True Interests, Prosperity, And Liberty Of All Classes And Conditions Of The People.

No Blame Can Be Attached To The Army For Its Failure To Accomplish What Was Projected By Me... I Alone Am To Blame, In Perhaps Expecting Too Much Of Its Prowess And Valor... Could I Have Foreseen That The Attack On The Last Day Would Fail, I Should Certainly Have Tried Some Other Course... But I Do Not Know What Better Course I Could Have Pursued.

A Nation Which Does Not Remember What It Was Yesterday Does Not Know Where It Is Today.

Mr. Blair, I Look Upon Secession As Anarchy. If I Owned The Four Millions Of Slaves In The South, I Would Sacrifice Them All To The Union; But How Can I Draw My Sword Upon Virginia, My Native State?

I Have Never Witnessed On Any Previous Occasion Such Entire Disregard Of The Usage Of Civilized Warfare And The Dictates Of Humanity.

In All My Perplexities And Distresses, The Bible Has Never Failed To Give Me Light And Strength.

We Have Fought This Fight As Long, And As Well As We Know How. We Have Been Defeated. For Us As A Christian People, There Is Now But One Course To Pursue. We Must Accept The Situation.

Postal Officials Say That Before Christmas They Receive Tons Of Letters Written To Santa Claus, But After Christmas How Few Letters Of Thanks Are Sent To Him! From Childhood Onward, Human Beings Seem To Be Characterized By Thanklessness.

Any Victory Would Be Dear At Such A Price.

Alabama Soldiers, All I Ask Of You Is To Keep Up With The Texans!

Life Processes Take Place In An Aqueous Medium. All Organisms Are Composed Mostly Of Water, Whether They Dwell In The Oceans, Lakes, And Rivers, Or On The Land. Because The Physical And Chemical Properties Of Water Are Well Suited To The Requirements Of Life, It Is No Accident That Life Is A Water-based Phenomenon.

The Enemy Never Sees The Backs Of My Texans!

A Land Without Memories Is A People Without Liberty.

Whither Shall I Flee? To No Country On Earth That I Know Of Where There Is As Much Liberty As Yet Remains To Me Even In Virginia.

Go Home All You Boys Who Fought With Me And Help Build Up The Shattered Fortunes Of Our Old State

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.

Let Us Pray For Ourselves, That We May Not Lose The Word “concern” Out Of Our Christian Vocabulary. Let Us Pray For Our Nation. Let Us Pray For Those Who Have Never Known Jesus Christ And Redeeming Love, For Moral Forces Everywhere, For Our National Leaders. Let Prayer Be Our Passion. Let Prayer Be Our Practice.

To Be A Good Soldier, You Must Love The Army. To Be A Good Commander, You Must Be Willing To Order The Death Of The Thing You Love.

All This Has Been My Fault.

It Is Easier To Make Our Wishes Conform To Our Means Than To Make Our Means Conform To Our Wishes.

There Are Few, I Believe, In This Enlightened Age, Who Will Not Acknowledge That Slavery As An Institution Is A Moral And Political Evil.

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.

The Framers Of Our Constitution Never Exhausted So Much Labor, Wisdom, And Forbearance In Its Formation, And Surrounded It With So Many Guards And Securities, If It Was Intended To Be Broken By Every Member Of The Confederacy At Will.

I Think It Better To Do Right, Even If We Suffer In So Doing, Than To Incur The Reproach Of Our Consciences And Posterity.

I Like Whiskey. I Always Did, And That Is Why I Never Drink It.

I Have Thought From The Time Of The Cessation Of The Hostilities, That Silence And Patience On The Part Of The South Was The True Course; And I Think So Still. Controversy Of All Kinds Will, In My Opinion, Only Serve To Continue Excitement And Passion, And Will Prevent The Public Mind From The Acknowledgement And Acceptance Of The Truth.

If We Do Not Do This Our Churches Will Lighthouses Without Light, Wells Without Water, Dumb Witnesses, Sleeping Watchmen, Silent Trumpets, Messengers Without Tidings, A Comfort For Infidels, Jubilant Joys To The Devil, And An Offense To God.

A Union That Can Only Be Maintained By Swords And Bayonets, And In Which Strife And Civil War Are To Take The Place Of Brotherly Love And Kindness, Has No Charm For Me.

The Devil's Name Is Dullness.

We Poor Sinners Need To Come Back From Our Wanderings To Seek Pardon Through The All-sufficient Merits Of Our Redeemer. And We Need To Pray Earnestly For The Power Of The Holy Spirit To Give Us A Precious Revival In Our Hearts And Among The Unconverted.

General Longstreet,when Once In A Fight, Was A Most Brilliant Soldier; But He Was The Hardest Man To Move I Had In My Army.

My Heart Bleeds At The Death Of Every One Of Our Gallant Men.

The Dominant Party Cannot Reign Forever, And Truth And Justice Will Prevail At Last.

There Is A True Glory And A True Honor: The Glory Of Duty Done--the Honor Of The Integrity Of Principle.

Traveler Is My Only Companion; I May Also Say My Pleasure. He And I, Whenever Practicable, Wander Out In The Mountains And Enjoy Sweet Confidence.

I Pray That On This Day [christmas] When Only Peace And Good-will Are Preached To Mankind, Better Thoughts May Fill The Hearts Of Our Enemies And Turn Them To Peace.

Let Us Go Home And Cultivate Our Virtues.

Private And Public Life Are Subject To The Same Rules-truth And Manliness Are Two Qualities That Will Carry You Through This World Much Better Than Policy Or Tact Of Expediency Or Other Words That Were Devised To Conceal A Deviation From A Straight Line.

Our Country Demands All Our Strength, All Our Energies. To Resist The Powerful Combination Now Forming Against Us Will Require Every Man At His Place. If Victorious, We Will Have Everything To Hope For In The Future. If Defeated, Nothing Will Be Left For Us To Live For.

My Trust Is In The Mercy And Wisdom Of A Kind Providence, Who Ordereth All Things For Our Good.

Obedience To Lawful Authority Is The Foundation Of Manly Character.

So Far From Engaging In A War To Perpetuate Slavery, I Am Rejoiced That Slavery Is Abolished.

I Did Only What My Duty Demanded. I Could Have Taken No Other Course Without Dishonor.

All I Ever Wanted Was A Virginia Farm, No End Of Cream And Fresh Butter And Fried Chicken - Not One Fried Chicken, Or Two, But Unlimited Fried Chicken.

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