They’re the Reason Why We’re the Land of the Free: 75 of the Best Veterans Day Quotes

As a country and as individuals, we must honor the heroes who make our world better. And as a nation, there’s no one more deserving of our gratitude and respect than those who have served in the military —which is why Veterans Day is so incredibly significant. As we prepare for this year’s profound celebration, we’re ready to say, “Happy Veterans Day” with 75 of the greatest Veterans Day quotes!

While some businesses are rightfully offering Veterans Day deals and freebies for the brave men and women who have served in the armed forces, we can all do our own part to recognize these shining examples of patriotism as well. Fortunately, we can share our high regard for those in our lives who have served and utilize social media to send supportive, thankful messages—broad and personal.

Giving a heartfelt, genuine “thank you” is always an appropriate gesture toward former/retired and active military personnel. However, many longer, distinctive statements of acknowledgment and appreciation can also be made—which is why we’re happy to share 75 of the best Veterans Day 2023 quotes!

75 Veterans Day Quotes

1. “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with lots of pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.” — Woodrow Wilson

2. “It’s about how we treat our veterans every single day of the year. It’s about making sure they have the care they need and the benefits that they’ve earned when they come home. It’s about serving all of you as well as you’ve served the United States of America.” — Barack Obama

3. “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” — Joseph Campbell

4. “The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” — G.K. Chesterton

5. “It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.” — Norman Schwarzkopf

6. “Honoring the sacrifices many have made for our country in the name of freedom and democracy is the very foundation of Veterans Day.” — Charles B. Rangel

7. “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.” — Arthur Ashe

8. “The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment.” — Judd Gregg

9. “Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul.” — Michel de Montaigne

10. “The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.” — Thucydides

Related: Veterans Day Freebies

11. “Perfect valor is to behave, without witnesses, as one would act were all the world watching.” — François de la Rochefoucauld

12. “The sanctity of our battlefields, monuments, and veterans institutions is of utmost importance to preserve military history and pay respect to those who fought.” — Henry Waxman

13. “The thing we all had in common wasn’t muscle; it was the will to do whatever it takes.” — Chris Kyle

14. “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

15. “On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free.” — Dan Lipinski

16. “Heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history.” — Mary Roach

17. “He loves his country best who strives to make it best.” — Robert G. Ingersoll

18. “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” — Nathan Hale

19. “Sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the Gun down.” — Malcolm X

20. “No man is a man until he has been a soldier.” — Louis de Bernières

21. “Without heroes, we are all plain people, and don’t know how far we can go.” — Bernard Malamud

22. “Duty, honor, country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be.” — Douglas MacArthur

Related: Get a Sneak Peek Inside the National Medal of Honor Museum

23. “The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers. The Soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country.” — George S. Patton

24. “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.” — Winston Churchill

25. “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” — Abraham Lincoln

26. “Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

27. “Americans never quit.” — Douglas MacArthur

28. “America’s veterans embody the ideals upon which America was founded more than 229 years ago.” — Steve Buyer

29. “Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but the Marines don’t have that problem.” — Ronald Reagan

30. “I’ve lived the literal meaning of the ‘land of the free’ and ‘home of the brave.’ It’s not corny for me. I feel it in my heart. I feel it in my chest.” — Chris Kyle

31. “America without her soldiers would be like God without his angels.” — Claudia Pemberton

32. “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” — John F. Kennedy

33. “For the first time in a long time, I felt like I had a purpose being in the Navy. It wasn’t about money and rank or prestige. It was about raising the flag. We do what we do because no one else can or will do it. We fight so others can sleep at night.” — Timothy Ciciora

34. “We can’t equate spending on veterans with spending on defense. Our strength is not just in the size of our defense budget, but in the size of our hearts, in the size of our gratitude for their sacrifice. And that’s not just measured in words or gestures.” — Jennifer Granholm

35. “The only easy day was yesterday.” — US Navy SEALs

36. “A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace.” — Theodore Roosevelt

37. “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.” — George Washington

Related: 50 Patriotic Quotes

38. “Never give in—never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.” — Winston Churchill

39. “We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.” — Cynthia Ozick

40. “America’s veterans deserve the very best health care because they’ve earned it.” — Jim Ramstad

41. “America’s finest – our men and women in uniform, are a force for good throughout the world, and that is nothing to apologize for.” — Sarah Palin

42. “Better than honor and glory, and History’s iron pen, was the thought of duty done and the love of his fellow-men.” — Richard Watson Gilder

43. “War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

44. “I respect every soldier, from every country, who serves beside us in the hard work of history. America is grateful, and America will not forget.” — George W. Bush

45. “We must never forget why we have, and why we need our military. Our armed forces exist solely to ensure our nation is safe, so that each and every one of us can sleep soundly at night, knowing we have ‘guardians at the gate.'” — Allen West

46. “This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans.” — Thomas M. Smith

47. “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain

48. “America’s Veterans have served their country with the belief that democracy and freedom are ideals to be upheld around the world.” — John Doolittle

49. “There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty, that makes human nature rise above itself, in acts of bravery and heroism.” — Alexander Hamilton

50. “We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause.” — Ronald Reagan

51. “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” — Billy Graham

52. “Spending time with America’s soldiers is always inspiring.” — John Boehner

53. “The young patriots now returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other deployments worldwide are joining the ranks of veterans to whom America owes an immense debt of gratitude.” — Steve Buyer

54. “Tragically, the effort to make America and the world safer and to defend freedom around the world is not without an enormous cost to this Nation in terms primarily of lost lives and those who bear the scars and the wounds of war, and their families who must bear these losses.” — John Warner

55. “In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.” — José Narosky

56. “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form or a readiness to die.” — G.K. Chesterton

57. “Fortune favors the brave.” — Terence

58. “Word to the Nation: Guard zealously your right to serve in the Armed Forces, for without them, there will be no other rights to guard.” — John F. Kennedy

59. “These fallen heroes represent the character of a nation who has a long history of patriotism and honor – and a nation who has fought many battles to keep our country free from threats of terror.” — Michael N. Castle

60. “But this Veterans Day, I believe we should do more than sing the praises of the bravery and patriotism that our veterans have embodied in the past. We should take this opportunity to re-evaluate how we are treating our veterans in the present.” — Nick Lampson

61. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” — John Quincy Adams

62. “Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.” — George Washington

63. “Marines—you beat them down and they come back for more.” — Chris Kyle

64. “Freedom is never free.” — Anonymous

65. “The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude.” — Jeff Miller

66. “Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.” — Abraham Lincoln

67. “The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.” — Patrick Henry

Related: 30 Quotes on Sacrifice, Gratitude and Patriotism

68. “We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf.” — George Orwell

69. “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” — Maya Angelou

70. “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” — Thomas Paine

71. “My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place—police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces.” — Sidney Sheldon

72. “I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: ‘I served in the United States Navy.'” — John F. Kennedy

73. “I think there is one higher office than President and I would call that patriot.” — Gary Hart

74. “Our veterans accepted the responsibility to defend America and uphold our values when duty called.”
 — Bill Shuster

75. “This nation will remain the land of the free only as long as it is home of the brave.” — Elmer Davis

Next up, 7 ways to help veterans, soldiers and their families