Marine Corps Quotes

I always equate wrestling to having been in the Marine Corps. ~ William Baldwin

I'd been raised on excuses. But the Marine Corps taught me that excuses don't matter. That excuses--even when prettied up as reasons--are just a way to avoid doing what needs doing. ~ Barbara Nickless

Something I learned in the Marine Corps that I've applied to acting is, one, taking direction, and then working with a group of people to accomplish a mission and knowing your role within that team. ~ Adam Driver

WARRIORS BY DAY, LOVERS BY NIGHT, PROFESSIONALS BY CHOICE, AND MARINES BY THE GRACE OF GOD. ~ U.S. Marine Corps

Vigorous public ball scratching is common in the combat-arms side of the Marine Corps, even among high-level officers in the midst of briefings. ~ Evan Wright

The Marine Corps is proud of the fact that it is a force of combined arms, and it jealously guards the integrity of its air-ground team. ~ Keith B. McCutcheon

The amphibious landing of U.S. Marines on September 1950 at Inchon, on the west coast of Korea, was one of the most audacious and spectacularly successful amphibious landings in all naval history. ~ Bernard Brodie

I think some of my best theatre training has been in the Marine Corps. Not only meeting a bunch of characters, but growing up. You're in really adult situations at a young age, as far as being in charge of people. ~ Adam Driver

My dad was a golden gloves boxer in the Marine Corps, then a deputy sheriff. My mom worked as an office assistant. ~ Susana Martinez

The Marine Corps has been, and will continue to be, America's Expeditionary Force in Readiness - ready to respond to today's crisis, with today's Marine forces, today. ~ James F. Amos

Better and Stronger ~ The Marine Corps

The Marine Corps taught me how to kill, but it didn't teach me how to deal with killing. ~ Karl Marlantes

My only answer as to why the Marines get the toughest jobs is because the average Leatherneck is a much better fighter. He has far more guts, courage, and better officers... These boys out here have a pride in the Marine Corps and will fight to the end no matter what the cost."~ 2nd Lt. Richard C. Kennard, ~ Raphael A. Hughes

My definition, the definition that I've always believed in, is that esprit de corps means love for one's own military legion - in my case, the United States Marine Corps. It means more than self-preservation, religion, or patriotism. I've also learned that this loyalty to one's corps travels both ways: up and down. ~ Chesty Puller

As he looked,she did the same.So far she'd always seen him partially clothed,but now...The top part of one arm was a complete sleeve of interwoven Celtic designs that were so beautiful and intricate she could only imagine how long it had taken the artist to tattoo them.On his lower forearm was a Celtic cross with a circle around it and what looked like names scripted parallel to the circle.She'd noticed part of it before but hadn't wanted to stare at him.Now she was looking her fill.On his other upper arm he had the Marine Corps eagle,globe and anchor. ~ Katie Reus

I follow the teachings of Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps. He won two Congressional Medals of Honor, and he wrote the highly controversial antiwar book 'War is a Racket.' ~ Jesse Ventura

Improvise, Adapt and Overcome" - USMC, unofficial ~ U.S. Marine Corps

The Marine Corps taught me that I could achieve my goals. In short, the Marines made me believe in myself. ~ Gregory Alan Williams

You see, in the Marine Corps, they teach you that if you're going to carry or use something, you need to do so responsibly. So, if you're going to deploy tear gas, you have to spend some time in a gas chamber finding out just how bad it sucks. Same thing with tasers, and hell, if it didn't cost so much to train new Marines, they'd probably test rifles out on you, as well. My beloved Corps can be a bit thick headed about things like that. ~ Stan R. Mitchell

If I had one more division like this First Marine Division I could win this war. ~ Douglas MacArthur

I do not believe I could have built FedEx without the skills I learned from the Marine Corps. ~ Frederick W. Smith

WE STOLE THE EAGLE FROM THE AIR FORCE, THE ANCHOR FROM THE NAVY AND THE ROPE FROM THE ARMY.
ON THE SEVENTH DAY WHILE GOD RESTED, WE OVERRAN HIS PERIMETER, STOLE THE GLOBE AND WE'VE BEEN RUNNING THE WHOLE SHOW EVER SINCE. ~ U.S. Marine Corps

All the logic seemed to be on our side. The Marine Corps seemed a madness. ~ Robert Leckie

The Marine Corps ... took a boy and made him a man. ~ Ed Bearss

I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world! ~ Douglas MacArthur

The male role models I had all seemed to have been in the military. My father served in the army. My uncle was in the Marine Corps. Both of my grandfathers served in WWII. There weren't any career soldiers in my family, but when I was young it seemed like a way of arriving at adulthood. ~ Kevin Powers

We're the front line," Danny had told Wade. "On September eleventh, 2001, they didn't call the navy. They didn't call the Marine Corps. They called the policemen and the firemen. We are the soldiers of our community. ~ Fernanda Santos

I resigned from the Marine Corps and flying in 1974, even though I loved them both. I quit because I no longer wanted to fight for peace. Instead, I believe we can build a more sustainable peace by working for prosperity. ~ Robert Kiyosaki

Semper Fi! MotherFucker! ~ U.S. Marine Corps

I actually shivered at the insincerity that gripped me as I spoke these words: their falseness was shameful. I was sure my coolness would return. I'd just been caught with my guard down. But at the moment I was in shambles. Walking along the deck (adopting my old casual swagger), I jollied up the troops with small talk, put on a frozen grin, and kept murmuring to myself with rhythmic fatuity: You love the marine Corps, it's a terrific war, you love the Marine Corps, it's a terrific war ... ~ William Styron

The Marine Corps is some of the best acting training you could have. Having that responsibility for people's lives, suddenly time becomes a really valuable commodity and you want to make the most of it. And for acting, you just have to do the work, just keep doing it. ~ Adam Driver

Success in battle is not a function of how many show up, but who they are. ~ Robert H. Barrow

A compliance with the minutiae of military courtesy is a mark of well-disciplined troops. ~ John A. Lejeune

The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist. ~ Thomas Friedman

I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. ~ Smedley Butler

You know, I think the main purpose of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps is to get poor Americans into clean, pressed, unpatched clothes, so rich Americans can stand to look at them. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

In the Gulf War, U.S. Marine Corps wheeled vehicles were killing Iraqi T-72 tanks. ~ Ralph Peters

The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years. ~ James Forrestal

Any officer can get by on his sergeants. To be a sergeant you have to know your stuff. I'd rather be an outstanding sergeant than just another officer. ~ Daniel Daly

When the first contingents of U.S. troops were being sent to Saudi Arabia, in August of 1990, Corporal Jeff Patterson, a twenty-two-year-old Marine stationed in Hawaii, sat down on the runway of the airfield and refused to board a plane bound to Saudi Arabia. He asked to be discharged from the Marine Corps:
I have come to believe that there are no justified wars. . . . I began to question exactly what I was doing in the Marine Corps about the time I began to read about history. I began to read up on America's support for the murderous regimes of Guatemala, Iran, under the Shah, and El Salvador. . . . I object to the military use of force against any people, anywhere, any time. ~ Howard Zinn

I have drawn inspiration from the Marine Corps, the Jewish struggle in Palestine and Israel, and the Irish. ~ Leon Uris

The Japanese fought to win - it was a savage, brutal, inhumane, exhausting and dirty business. Our commanders knew that if we were to win and survive, we must be trained realistically for it whether we liked it or not. In the post-war years, the U.S. Marine Corps came in for a great deal of undeserved criticism in my opinion, from well-meaning persons who did not comprehend the magnitude of stress and horror that combat can be. The technology that developed the rifle barrel, the machine gun and high explosive shells has turned war into prolonged, subhuman slaughter. Men must be trained realistically if they are to survive it without breaking, mentally and physically. ~ Eugene B. Sledge

When you get out of the Marine Corps, you feel like you can do anything. ~ Adam Driver

Ensure that no Marine who honorably wore the eagle, globe and anchor is lost to the Marine Corps family. ~ James L. Jones

In war, the chief incalculable is the human will. ~ B.H. Liddell Hart

If and American flag had been waving behind her, she'd have looked like a very sexy Marine Corps recruiting poster. The few, the proud, the cottontailed. ~ Susan Elizabeth Phillips

The Marine Corps is the Navy's police force and as long as I am President that is what it will remain. They have a propaganda machine that is almost equal to Stalin's. ~ Harry S. Truman

I still need Marines who can shoot and salute. But I need Marines who can fix jet engines and man sophisticated radar sets, as well. ~ Robert E. Cushman, Jr.

I served in all commissioned ranks from a second Lieutenant to a Major General. And during that time, I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street, and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism. ~ Smedley Butler

Since the birth of our nation, the steady performance of the Marine Corps in fighting America's battles has made it the very symbol of military excellence. The Corps has come to be recognized worldwide as an elite force of fighting men, renowned for their physical endurance, for their high level of obedience, and for the fierce pride they take, as individuals, in the capacity for self discipline. ~ Clare Boothe Luce

We will send ships and Marines as soon as possible for the protection of American life and property. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

After about 25 medals, you run out of shoulder to put them on. ~ George S. Day

If any of you get hernias in this tug-of-war against the Army, I'll pay to get them fixed. ~ Robert E. Haebel

Huxley: "Tell me something Bryce, do you know the difference between a Jersey, a Guernsey, a Holstein, and an Ayershire?"
Bryce: "No."
Huxley: "Seabags Brown does."
Bryce: "I don't see what that has to do..."
Huxley: "What do you know about Gaelic history?"
Bryce: "Not much."
Huxley: "Then why don't you sit down one day with Gunner McQuade. He is an expert. Speaks the language, too."
Bryce: "I don't..."
Huxley: " What do you know about astronomy?"
Bryce: "A little."
Huxley: "Discuss it with Wellman, he held a fellowship."
Bryce: "This is most puzzling."
Huxley: "What about Homer, ever read Homer?"
Bryce: "Of course I've read Homer."
Huxley: "In the original Greek?"
Bryce: "No"
Huxley: "Then chat with Pfc. Hodgkiss. Loves to read the ancient Greek."
Bryce: "Would you kindly get to the point?"
Huxley: "The point is this, Bryce. What makes you think you are so goddam superior? Who gave you the bright idea that you had a corner on the world's knowledge? There are privates in this battalion who can piss more brains down a slit trench then you'll ever have. You're the most pretentious, egotistical individual I've ever encountered. Your superiority complex reeks. I've seen the way you treat men, like a big strutting peacock. Why, you've had them do everything but wipe your ass. ~ Leon Uris

Shouldering the duffel bag with the Marine Corps bulldog, Old Man knocked Jan's photo off the bed table. He turned to stone staring down at the photo. His face then splintered into hurt. Tears seeped into his eyes. He grappled for the nearest bedpost and slumped forward on extended arms. His shoulders jerked and head sagged a little while his heart broke. Old Man cried the mute cry of men of his generation. ~ Ed Lynskey

I entirely approve the measures proposed by you in relation to the Marines who are lately captives in Tripoli. Therefore execute them. ~ Robert Smith

He ran as he'd never run before, with neither hope nor despair. He ran because the world was divided into opposites and his side had already been chosen for him, his only choice being whether or not to play his part with heart and courage. He ran because fate had placed him in a position of responsibility and he had accepted the burden. He ran because his self-respect required it. He ran because he loved his friends and this was the only thing he could do to end the madness that was killing and maiming them. ~ Karl Marlantes

The Marines don't have any race problems. They treat everybody like they're black. ~ Daniel James, Jr.

The aim of every woman is to be truly integrated into the Corps. She is able and willing to undertake any assignment consonant with Marine Corps needs, and is proudest of all that she has no nickname. She is a "Marine." ~ Katherine Amelia Towle

I can now say without hesitation the Marine Corps was the best foster home I ever had. ~ Art Buchwald

In the simple moral maxim the Marine Corps teaches
- do the right thing, for the right reason
- no exception exists that says: unless there's criticism or risk. Damn the consequences. ~ Josh Rushing

We ended up our talk by my asking Dennis his feelings now about the Marines. Any regrets for all those wounds? Or about having been sent to and having to fight an unpopular war?
"No. The Marine Corps meant a tremendous amount to me. And even today I gain momentum from it. The Corps is one of the prime reasons Marines are so successful in whatever we do - because we refuse to quit. ~ James Brady

When I was sworn in the Marine Corps in 1964, when I was sworn into Congress, I swore to uphold the Constitution against enemies, both foreign and domestic. We have a lot of domestic enemies of - of the Constitution, those who want to pervert it, those who want to change it. ~ Paul Broun

If you're from New York and you're Catholic, you're still Jewish. If you're from Butte Montana and you're Jewish, you're still goyisch. The Air Force is Jewish, the Marine Corps dangerous goyisch. Rye Bread is Jewish, instant potatoes, scary goyisch. Eddie Cantor is goyisch, George Jessel is goyisch-Coleman Hawkins is Jewish. ~ Lenny Bruce

Our young men in Vietnam have not only acquitted themselves in an outstanding manner during combat operations, but they also have been outstanding ambassadors of goodwill in the vital civic action and pacification work among the tortured populace of South Vietnam. ~ Lewis William Walt

I am a Marine Corps veteran, but more importantly - or as important maybe - I'm the chairman of the Oversight Investigation Subcommittee and the House Veterans Affair Committee. ~ Mike Coffman

Aviation is a dynamic profession. The rate of obsolescence of equipment is high and new aircraft have to be placed in inventory periodically in order to stay abreast of the requirements of modern war. ~ Keith B. McCutcheon

The United States has been fighting African pirates since the early days of the republic - battles so formative that, among other things, they established a long-standing pattern of dealing with foreign policy problems through armed interventions and also inspired the iconic phrase 'the shores of Tripoli' in the Marine Corps hymn. ~ Nick Turse

the best and worst critics I had was in the Marine Corps, If you can share poetry to a bunch of opinionated Marines, you can share with anyone ~ Vincent Breit

In the Marine Corps, your buddy is not only your classmate or fellow officer, but he is also the Marine under your command. If you don't prepare yourself to properly train him, lead him, and support him on the battlefield, then you're going to let him down. That is unforgivable in the Marine Corps. ~ Chesty Puller

When I was 10, I had a paper route. One year, I delivered my papers through a hurricane. My mother was against the idea, but my dad, who was a sergeant in the Marine Corps, overruled her. I was determined to deliver my papers. ~ Tim Finchem

Democrats have chosen not to defend the Marine Corps, but to pander to anti-war protesters and Berkeley officials that are actively trying to impede military recruitment. ~ Jim DeMint

I liked being in the Marines. They gave me discipline I could live with. By the time I got out, I was able to cope with things on a more realistic level. ~ Steve McQueen

Sir: It gives me pleasure to report to you the fine bearing and soldierly conduct of Captain Wilson and his men whilst absent on special duty. Though their duties were more arduous than those of others, they were always prompt and ready for performance of all they were called upon to do. As a body they would be a credit to any organization, and I will be glad to be associated with them on duty at any time. ~ John Taylor Wood

I believe that it was the highest privilege of my life to wear the uniform of the United States Marine Corps. I don't believe the country owes me anything for doing so, but that my serving was partial payment on what I owe our country - a debt that can be never fully paid, but with my life. ~ Robert Hall

I can never again see a UNITED STATES MARINE without experiencing a feeling of reverence. ~ Edward Johnson

Men do not fight for flag or country, for the Marine Corps or glory or any other abstraction. They fight for one another. And if you came through this ordeal, you would age with dignity. ~ William Manchester

Women and men will have to go through the same physical test before they get into these ground combat jobs, and the test will increase over time for again both Marine Corps and the Army just to make sure everyone is physically fit enough to go through these jobs, to get through this training. ~ Renee Montagne

The Marines have landed and the situation is well in hand. ~ Richard Harding Davis

I liked the military life. They teach you self-sufficiency early on. I always say that I learned most of what I know about leadership in the Marine Corps. Certain basic principles stay with you - sometimes consciously, mostly unconsciously. ~ Raymond Kelly

Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum. ~ Gregory Boyington

And as workers were empowered to make more choices, their motivation skyrocketed. Just as Mauricio Delgado and the U.S. Marine Corps had found in other settings, when workers felt a greater sense of control, their drive expanded. Word ~ Charles Duhigg

Heroism is endurance for one moment more. ~ George F. Kennan

Spread the gospel that the Marine Corps is a force that has changed. We're not in 1942 anymore. ~ James F. Amos

Goddamn it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me! ~ Henry Pierson Crowe

I'm not scared of very much. I've been hit by lightning and been in the Marine Corps for four years. ~ Lee Trevino

It's OK to have fun in the Marine Corps. I like to say we are an imperfect people working in an institution that tries to be perfect. That is a noble thing, but you have to realize there is no perfect. We're human. ~ James L. Jones

We're really talking about the Army and Marine Corps here for almost all these ground combat jobs. They want to move in a careful, deliberate manner. ~ Renee Montagne

What is the difference between the Marine Corps and the Boy Scouts?
The Boy Scouts have adult leadership. ~ Michael Herr

I selected an enormous Marine Corps emblem to be tattooed across my chest. It required several sittings and hurt me like the devil, but the finished product was worth the pain. I blazed triumphantly forth, a Marine from throat to waist. The emblem is still with me. Nothing on earth but skinning will remove it. ~ Smedley Butler

From the time I left the Marine Corps after serving as an infantry platoon and company commander in Vietnam, I decided that I would focus on immediate goals that inspired me to devote all of my energy to them, rather than putting together the more cautious and traditional building blocks of a predictable career. ~ Jim Webb

If I charge, follow me. If I retreat, kill me. If I die, revenge me. ~ U.S. Marine Corps

Tell that to the marines - the sailors won't believe it. ~ Walter Scott

You have to be forward-moving and able to balance a lot of things at the same time. I attribute a lot of that to the Marine Corps and Juilliard both. ~ Adam Driver

They say "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." In the Marine Corps, you can make that horse wish to hell he had. ~ Fred Larson

In the last analysis, what the Marine Corps becomes is what we make of it during our respective watches. And that watch of each Marine is not confined to the time he spends on active duty. It last as long as he is "proud to bear the title of United States Marine." ~ Louis H. Wilson, Jr.

Everyday US Marines make possible the impossible and then go about their business like it's just the way things are supposed to be. ~ Mark W. Boyer

The gunnery sergeant didn't crack a smile at the radio intercept of Faith's concept of a backup plan, an intercept that had caused Commander Bradburn, skipper of the Dallas, to literally fall out of his command chair laughing. Sands managed to watch the video stone-faced as she boarded the Voyage and began her "fifteen minutes of mayhem," set in the video to the tune of Chumbawamba's Tubthumping. He managed to keep a straight face the third time she popped back up like a jack-in-the-box after being dogpiled by zombies. He held it in during her overheard running commentary as the rest of the Marines, even the NCOs, started rolling on the deck.

It was when she got the Halligan tool stuck in a zombie's head and overbalanced that he snorted. When she unstuck her bent machete and it caught a male zombie in the groin he started laughing out loud. When the, admittedly not petite, girl stuck a boot knife in a zombie's eye then threw him over the side, tears started running down his face and he completely lost his composure as a senior NCO of the United States Marine Corps. ~ John Ringo

Wherever you are or whatever your job, don't be confused or diverted by false priorities. We have only one mission to perform-that is to fight and win. And, we must do it better than anyone else in the world. ~ Leslie E. Brown

Demonstrate to the world there is 'No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy' than a U.S. Marine. ~ James Mattis