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. LeeRead
A Union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets has no charm for me. If the Union is dissolved and government disrupted, I shall return to my native state and share the miseries of my people, and save in defense will draw my sword on none.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a belief that true unity cannot be forcefully maintained and emphasizes the importance of shared experiences over violence.
In this quote, Robert E. Lee articulates his preference for a Union based on genuine connection and mutual respect rather than one sustained through coercion or military might. He highlights his loyalty to his home state and the shared struggles of his people, suggesting that if the Union collapses, he would choose to endure hardships with them instead of fighting for a cause he doesn't believe in. This reflects a philosophical standpoint on the nature of true loyalty and the moral implications of using violence to uphold authority.
Themes
UnionViolenceLoyaltyUnderstandingPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for peaceful resolution, one might insert this quote to emphasize non-violent unity.
More from Robert E. Lee
All quotes →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.
Robert E. LeeRead
It is easier to make our wishes conform to our means than to make our means conform to our wishes.
Robert E. LeeRead
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.
Robert E. LeeRead
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.
Robert E. LeeRead
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.
Robert E. LeeRead
Similar quotes
What could ever be a sufficient reason for excusing in any way the direct murder of the innocent? This is precisely what we are dealing with here. Whether inflicted upon the mother or upon the child, it is against the precept of God and the law of nature: 'Thou shalt not kill.'
Pope Pius XiRead
The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.
AristotleRead
Rediscovering the controversies that occupied early Christianity sharpens our awareness of the major issue in the whole debate, then and now: What is the source of religious authority? For the Christian the question takes more specific form: What is the relation between the authority of ones own experience and that claimed for the scriptures, the ritual and the clergy?
Elaine PagelsRead
Thus passing through the infinite varieties of space we reach the Divine space which is absolutely free from all dimensions and constitutes the meeting point of all infinities.
Muhammad IqbalRead
She had dreamed some brilliant dreams during the past winter and now they lay in the dust around her. In her present mood of self-disgust, she could not immediately begin dreaming again. And she discovered that, while solitude with dreams is glorious, solitude without them has few charms.
Lucy Maud MontgomeryRead
Hunger knows no friend but its feeder.
AristophanesRead