The one thing I never want to see again is a military parade. When I resigned from the army and went to a farm I was happy. When the rebellion came, I returned to the service because it was a duty. I had no thought of rank; all I did was try and make.
Interpretation
Ulysses S. Grant reflects on his preference for peaceful life over military displays, emphasizing duty over ambition.
In this quote, Ulysses S. Grant expresses a desire for a life devoid of the pomp and circumstance of military parades, indicating his preference for the simplicity and fulfillment he found in farming after leaving the army. His return to military service during a rebellion is portrayed not as a pursuit of glory or rank, but as a fulfilling response to his sense of duty, highlighting the complex relationship between personal happiness, responsibility, and the burdens of leadership.
In practice
This quote can be shared at a veterans' gathering to emphasize the importance of duty over ambition.
The great bulk of the legal voters of the South were men who owned no slaves; their homes were generally in the hills and poor country; their facilities for educating their children, even up to the point of reading and writing, were very limited; their interest in the contest was very meagre--what there was, if they had been capable of seeing it, was with the North; they too needed emancipation.
Hold fast to the Bible. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization and to this we must look as our guide in the future.
Let us labor for the security of free thought, free speech, pure morals, unfettered religious sentiments, and equal rights and privileges for all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion;.... leave the matter of religious teaching to the family altar, the church, and the private school, supported entirely by private contribution. Keep church and state forever separate.
When news of the surrender first reached our lines our men commenced firing a salute of a hundred guns in honor of the victory. I at once sent word, however, to have it stopped. The Confederates were now our prisoners, and we did not want to exult over their downfall.
I have made it a rule of my life to trust a man long after other people gave him up, but I don't see how I can ever trust any human being again.
A hero does for others. He would do anything for people he loves, because he knows it would make their lives better. I am not that kind of person, but I want you to be. You could give something to her, to me, to those children in the quarter. You could give something I never could ... The white people out there are saying you don't have it-that you're a hog, not a man. But I know they are wrong.
The soldiers that didn't come back were the heroes. It's a roll of the dice. If a bullet has your name on it, you're a hero. If you hear a bullet go by, you're a survivor.
I was 11 when I was molested. It was like a nuclear explosion going off in my life, destroying everything.
You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.
The miners lost because they had only the constitution. The other side had bayonets. In the end, bayonets always win.
We must show new energy in fighting back an old evil. Nearly two centuries after the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, and more than a century after slavery was officially ended in its last strongholds, the trade in human beings for any purpose must not be allowed to thrive in our time.
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