Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

I could imagine at a certain age, when I have no vocal cords left, that I would find a young man who could sing my parts for me. But I don’t see why I would stop.

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

There is nothing makes a man suspect much, more than to know little.

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.

Waking up early was the first example I noticed in the SEAL Teams in which discipline was really the difference between being good and being exceptional.

My great-grandfather and his two brothers fought at Gettysburg. They were in artillery, and they survived the war, thank goodness. So I revere what they did. I think their motivations were honorable when they undertook the war and participated in it along with other Southerners.

Find enough clever things to say, and you’re a Prime Minister; write them down and you’re a Shakespeare.

As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary.

My family’s lineage, we are warriors. The McGregor clan, we are warriors all through. We are famous all through the world for our fighting capabilities of all generations. So I have no doubt that’s stood to me and that led me down this path and gave me what I have.

Most nations, as well as people are impossible only in their youth; they become incorrigible as they grow older.

When all is said and done, more is said than done.

Many foxes grow gray but few grow good.

The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.

There is nothing so stable as change.

Men always want to be a woman’s first love – women like to be a man’s last romance.

I think that a man should not live beyond the age when he begins to deteriorate, when the flame that lighted the brightest moment of his life has weakened.

We did not raise armies for glory or for conquest.

We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly.

Necessity dispenseth with decorum.

Who, being loved, is poor?

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.

As commanders and staff officers, we are coaches and sentries for our units: how can we coach anything if we don’t know a hell of a lot more than just the TTPs?

The person who doesn’t scatter the morning dew will not comb gray hairs.

Our veterans who fall on hard times and find themselves without a home deserve more than just handwringing or kind words. They deserve real help that gets them back on their feet.

You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.

Nothing is permanent in this wicked world – not even our troubles.

You know when you’re young and you see a play in high school, and the guys all have gray in their hair and they’re trying to be old men and they have no idea what that’s like? It’s just that stupid the other way around.

If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can’t it get us out?

I was always very curious as a young man about why older writers who I met seemed so indifferent to what was going on, whereas I, in my 20s, was reading everything. Everything seemed important. But they were only interested in the writers they admired when they were young, and I didn’t understand it then, but now, now I understand it.

Those who know me know I’m passionate about lists, and top of my list of priorities is my family. My wife Joan and I do not consider our legacy to our children to be wealth or fame but the opportunity to pursue happiness by following their own path.

No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way.

The land of my fathers. My fathers can have it.

So live with men as if God saw you and speak to God, as if men heard you.

Dressing up is a bore. At a certain age, you decorate yourself to attract the opposite sex, and at a certain age, I did that. But I’m past that age.

Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.

A tomb now suffices him for whom the whole world was not sufficient.

What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.

I owe everything to Nirvana. But I can’t let that overshadow the future. For the first few years, I didn’t even want to talk about Nirvana. Partly because it was just painful to talk about losing Kurt but also because I wanted the Foo Fighters to mean something.

What with making their way and enjoying what they have won, heroes have no time to think. But the sons of heroes – ah, they have all the necessary leisure.

Wisdom has its root in goodness, not goodness its root in wisdom.

Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.

It is not well to make great changes in old age.

Hold those things that tell your history and protect them. During slavery, who was able to read or write or keep anything? The ability to have somebody to tell your story to is so important. It says: ‚I was here. I may be sold tomorrow. But you know I was here.‘

When trouble breaks out, our men and women in uniform, they don’t just sit around thinking about it or talking about it – they act. They put on that uniform. They leave their loved ones behind. They go out there. They give orders. They follow orders. They do whatever it takes to keep our country safe.

No legacy is so rich as honesty.

All diseases run into one, old age.

If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.

Starting at about, I guess, forever, I’ve always looked forward to getting older. When I was 14, I couldn’t wait to be 16 and get a driver’s license.

Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.

There is no room for military people, including our veterans, to see themselves as victims, even if so many of our countrymen are prone to relish that role.

Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.

Some of the generals are saying, ‚We’re making progress. We are clearing an area.‘ But you really don’t defeat the Taliban by clearing an area. They move.

The most important thing I can tell you about aging is this: If you really feel that you want to have an off-the-shoulder blouse and some big beads and thong sandals and a dirndl skirt and a magnolia in your hair, do it. Even if you’re wrinkled.

To tax and to please, no more than to love and to be wise, is not given to men.

I wish every American had an opportunity to sit down, to go to a base, to meet with families, to meet with service members, to sit down with our veterans – because we would think differently about our challenges as individuals.

The art is long, life is short.

While victimhood in America is exalted, I don’t think our veterans should join those ranks.