Horatio Nelson Quotes

Gentlemen, when the enemy is committed to a mistake we must not interrupt him too soon.

Recollect that you must be a seaman to be an officer and also that you cannot be a good officer without being a gentleman.

I owe all my success in life to having been always a quarter of an hour before my time.

Time is everything; five minutes make the difference between victory and defeat.

England expects that every man will do his duty.

Desperate affairs require desperate measures.

Duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it, however painful it may be.

A fleet of British ships at war are the best negotiators.

I could not tread these perilous paths in safety, if I did not keep a saving sense of humor.

The bravest man feels an anxiety 'circa praecordia' as he enters the battle; but he dreads disgrace yet more.

In Sea affairs, nothing is impossible, and nothing is improbable.

I am of the opinion that the boldest measures are the safest.

Close with a Frenchman, but out-maneuver a Russian.

Hardy, I do believe they have done it at last... my backbone is shot through.

Let me alone: I have yet my legs and one arm. Tell the surgeon to make haste and his instruments. I know I must lose my right arm, so the sooner it's off the better.

I cannot, if I am in the field of glory, be kept out of sight: wherever there is anything to be done, there Providence is sure to direct my steps.

In honour I gained them, and in honour I will die with them.

You must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your King, and you must treat every Frenchman as if he were the Devil himself.

Frigates are the eyes of a fleet.

If I had been censured every time I have run my ship, or fleets under my command, into great danger, I should have long ago been out of the Service and never in the House of Peers.

What the country needs is the annihilation of the enemy.

My character and good name are in my own keeping. Life with disgrace is dreadful. A glorious death is to be envied.

The politics of courts are so mean that private people would be ashamed to act in the same way; all is trick and finesse, to which the common cause is sacrificed.

If a man consults whether he is to fight, when he has the power in his own hands, it is certain that his opinion is against fighting.

Thank God I have done my duty.

First gain the victory and then make the best use of it you can.

My greatest happiness is to serve my gracious King and Country and I am envious only of glory; for if it be a sin to covet glory I am the most offending soul alive.

Now I can do no more. We must trust to the Great Disposer of all events and the justice of our cause. I thank God for this opportunity of doing my duty.

I am a Norfolk man and Glory in being so.

No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.

I do not believe you can do today's job with yesterday's methods and be in business tomorrow

Had we taken ten sails, and let the eleventh to escape, being able to get at her, I could never have called it well done.

I cannot command winds and weather.

To do nothing was disgraceful; therefore I made use of my understanding.

Something must be left to chance; nothing is certain in a sea fight

I have only one eye, I have a right to be blind sometimes... I really do not see the signal!

I have a right to be blind sometimes.

Treat every Frenchman as if he was the devil himself.

Whoever gains the palm by merit, let him hold it.

Never break the neutrality of a port or place, but never consider as neutral any place from whence an attack is allowed to be made.

There can be no place for self entirely

A ship's a fool to fight a fort.

Our Country will, I believe, sooner forgive an Officer for attacking his Enemy than for letting it alone.

Thank God I have done my duty. Drink, drink. Fan, fan. Rub, rub. Kiss me, Hardy.

It is my turn now; and if I come back, it is yours.

I believe my arrival was most welcome, not only to the Commander of the Fleet but almost to every individual in it.

When I came to explain to them the 'Nelson Touch', it was like an electric shock. Some shed tears, all approved - 'It was new - it was singular - it was simple!'.

My love is founded on esteem, the only foundation that can make the passion last.

England expects every man to do his duty

Laurels grow in the Bay of Biscay, I hope a bed of them may be found in the Mediterranean.