Robert E. Lee

“I can not trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.”

“We poor sinners need to come back from our wanderings to seek pardon through the all-sufficient merits of our Redeemer. And we need to pray earnestly for the power of the Holy Spirit to give us a precious revival in our hearts and among the unconverted.”

“Go home all you boys who fought with me and help build up the shattered fortunes of our old state”

“Read history, works of truth, not novels and romances”

“The march of Providence is so slow and our desires so impatient; the work of progress so immense and our means of aiding it so feeble; the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope.”

“True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another, and the motive which impels them the desire to do right is precisely the same.”

“They seemed so united that I loved them as one person." Lee wrote of his son and daughter-in-law on his daughter-in-law's death.”

“We all thought Richmond, protected as it was by our splendid fortifications and defended by our army of veterans, could not be taken. Yet Grant turned his face to our Capital, and never turned it away until we had surrendered. Now, I have carefully searched the military records of both ancient and modern history, and have never found Grant's superior as a general. I doubt that his superior can be found in all history.”

“There is a true glory and a true honor: the glory of duty done--the honor of the integrity of principle.”

“Obedience to lawful authority is the foundation of manly character.”

“It is easier to make our wishes conform to our means than to make our means conform to our wishes.”

“I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.”

“A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.”

“My trust is in the mercy and wisdom of a kind Providence, who ordereth all things for our good.”

“The education of a man is never completed until he dies.”

“What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world.”

“ The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman. The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly--the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the men in a plain light. The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past. A true man of honor feels humbled when he cannot help humbling others.”

“In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.”

“I like whiskey. I always did, and that is why I never drink it.”

“Never do a wrong thing to make a friend--or to keep one.”

“My experiences of men has neither disposed me to think worse of them nor be indisposed to serve them: nor, in spite of failures which I lament, of errors which I now see and acknowledge, or the present aspect of affairs, do I despair of the future. The truth is this: The march of Providence is so slow and our desires so impatient; the work of progress so immense and our means of aiding it so feeble; the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief, that we often see only the ebb of the advancing wave and are thus discouraged. It is history that teaches us to hope. ”

“I can only say that I am nothing but a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone for salvation.”

“It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.”