Each year, we set aside a day to honor our nation's veterans. Despite the busy season, November 11 is an important date on the calendar, when we should take time to salute our country's greatest patriots who have served in the military. To help commemorate this important day, we've curated inspirational Veterans Day quotes for family members, neighbors, and all soldiers past and present. Our list of patriotic quotes truly expresses the sacrifice made to secure our freedom, spoken and written by some of the most important voices in American history.
The federal holiday falls on November 11 each year, and this year that's a Monday. You can expect banks, government offices, the post office, and some schools and businesses to be closed in observation of the day. This Veterans Day and every day, honor the servicemen and women in your life and community by letting them know just how much you appreciate them. A simple “thank you for your service” sums it up, but if you're looking for more heartfelt words to express your gratitude, we have discovered some meaningful messages to celebrate all those who have served.
“Never before have men crossed the seas to a foreign land to fight for a cause which they did not pretend was peculiarly their own but knew was the cause of humanity and of mankind.”
“Throughout the course of American history, courageous men and women have taken up arms to secure, defend, and maintain these core principles upon which our nation’s freedoms depend.”
“The soldier's heart, the soldier's spirit, the soldier's soul, are everything.”
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9
Abraham Lincoln
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“Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.”
10
Louis de Bernières
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“No man is a man until he has been a soldier.”
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11
Arthur Ashe
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“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.”
12
Unknown
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“To our men and women in uniform, past, present, and future, God bless you and thank you.”
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13
Michel de Montaigne
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“Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.”
14
Ronald Reagan
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“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
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15
Unknown
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“Saluting the brave hearts with pride and respect all the way.”
16
Herbert Hoover
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“Here men endured that a nation might live.”
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17
Wallace Bruce
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“Who kept the faith and fought the fight; The glory theirs, the duty ours.”
18
Claudia Pemberton
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“America without her soldiers would be like God without his angels.”
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19
Minot J. Savage
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“The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men.”
20
Thomas Campbell
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“The patriot’s blood is the seed of freedom’s tree.”
Jessica Leigh Mattern is a web editor and writer who covers home, holiday, DIY, crafts, travel, and more lifestyle topics. Prior to working for Country Living, she wrote for several lifestyle and women’s magazines including Woman’s Day, Cosmopolitan, and Redbook