Chester W. Nimitz Quotes

God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.

They fought together as brothers in arms; they died together and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation.

Leadership consists of picking good men and helping them do their best.

We shall never forget that it was our submarines that held the lines against the enemy while our fleets replaced losses and repaired wounds.

When you're in command, command.

It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy so that it will not be fought on U.S. soil.

Luck can be attributed to a well-conceived plan carried out by a well-trained and indoctrinated task group.

A ship is always referred to as 'she' because it costs so much to keep one in paint and powder.

If you're not making waves, you're not under weigh.

The U.S.'s major strength factor and weapon is its economy. If you cripple it, you cripple the military.

Some of the best advice I've had comes from junior officers and enlisted men.

I have just taken on a great responsibility. I will do my utmost to meet it.

I felt that it was an unnecessary loss of civilian life... We had them beaten. They hadn't enough food, they couldn't do anything.

Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.

The best that science can devise and that naval organization can provide must be regarded only as an aid, and never as a substitute for good seamanship.

The enemy of our games was always Japan, and the courses were so thorough that after the start of World War II, nothing that happened in the Pacific was strange or unexpected.

The Japanese had, in fact, already sued for peace. The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military point of view, in the defeat of Japan.

Hindsight is notably cleverer than foresight.

Our present control of the sea is so absolute that it is sometimes taken for granted.

We must not again underestimate the Japanese.

Through the skill and devotion to duty of their armed forces of all branches in the Midway area our citizens can now rejoice that a momentous victory is in the making.

No other island received as much preliminary pounding as did Iwo Jima.

That is not to say that we can relax our readiness to defend ourselves. Our armament must be adequate to the needs, but our faith is not primarily in these machines of defense but in ourselves.

It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy so that it is not fought on U.S. soil.

God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless.

Grant me the courage not to give up even though I think it is hopeless.