“Don't talk to me about naval tradition. It's nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash.”

“A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril. ”

“Don't interrupt me while I'm interrupting.”

“I had a feeling once about Mathematics - that I saw it all. Depth beyond depth was revealed to me - the Byss and Abyss. I saw - as one might see the transit of Venus or even the Lord Mayor's Show - a quantity passing through infinity and changing its sign from plus to minus. I saw exactly why it happened and why the tergiversation was inevitable but it was after dinner and I let it go.”

“One day President Roosevelt told me that he was asking publicly for suggestions about what the war should be called. I said at once 'The Unnecessary War'.”

“If you are going to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.”

“The maxim, "Nothing prevails but perfection," may be spelled PARALYSIS.”