Memorial Day weekend is here. Are you trying to find the right words to express your gratitude for the holiday? Memorial Day is a wonderful time to remember and honor the courageous individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice. Using quotes is a great way to show respect for those service men and women loss in the line of duty. If you are searching for inspiration, check out the following quotes for Memorial Day.
- “We don’t know them all, but we owe them all.” —Unknown
- “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
- “Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude.” — Harry S. Truman
- “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it.” — Unknown
- “Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived.”- George S. Patton
- “The wind is us ― it gathers and remembers all our voices, then send them talking and telling through the leaves and the fields.” ― Truman Capote
- “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” — Joseph Campbell
- “May we never forget freedom isn’t free.” —Unknown
- “The patriot’s blood is the seed of freedom’s tree.” — Thomas Campbell
- “The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men.” — Minot J. Savage
- “One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, one Nation, evermore!” — Oliver Wendell Holmes
- “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
- “The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.” — Benjamin Disraeli
- “The legacy of brave men and women who have fought and died for their country is the freedom we enjoy as Americans.” – Lucian Adams
- “Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay.”- Barack Obama
- “They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind.” — Tuscarora Proverb
- “Think about the past and consider the sacrifices men and women in the military have made for us.” – Gary G. Wetzel
- “I got to fight on till I leave here, and I hope I leave some footprints.” — Mattie Jones
- “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Let their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored.” — Daniel Webster
- “For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue.” —James A. Garfield
- “Americans may not only pay tribute to our honored dead but also unite in prayer for success in our search for a just and lasting peace.” — John F. Kennedy, “Prayer for Peace,” Memorial Day 1962
- “Whether we observe the occasion through public ceremony or through private prayer, Memorial Day leaves few hearts unmoved. Each of the patriots whom we remember on this day was first a beloved son or daughter, a brother or sister, or a spouse, friend, and neighbor.” – George H.W. Bush
- “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” — Nathan Hale
- “All gave some; some gave all. Remember them this Memorial Day.” — Unknown
- “Their sacrifice was the ultimate act of love for their country. May we always remember them.” — Unknown
- “Their silent graves speak louder than any words ever could. Remember them.” — Unknown
- “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.” – Abraham Lincoln
- “Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.” — Napoleon Hill
- “May we never forget our fallen comrades. Freedom isn’t free.” – Sgt. Major Bill Paxton
- “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” — John 15:13
- “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” — Winston Churchill
- “On this Memorial Day, it is right for us to remember the living and the dead for whom the call of their country has meant pain and sacrifice. A grateful nation is in their debt.” – Lyndon B. Johnson
- “This is the day we pay homage to all those who didn’t come home. This is not Veterans Day, it’s not a celebration, it is a day of solemn contemplation over the cost of freedom.” – Tamara Bolton
- “If you want to thank a soldier, be the kind of American worth fighting for.” – Unknown
- “And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” —Lee Greenwood
- “Memorial Day: celebrate, honor, remember.” —Unknown
- “On this day, take time to remember those who have fallen. But on every day after, do more; put the freedoms they died for to greater and nobler uses.” —Richelle E. Goodrich
- “Ceremonies are important. But our gratitude has to be more than visits to the troops, and once-a-year Memorial Day ceremonies. We honor the dead best by treating the living well.” – Jennifer M. Granholm
- “Heroes never die. They live on in the hearts and minds of those who would follow in their footsteps.” – Emily Potter
- “And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier’s tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.” – Joseph Rodman Drake
- “I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it.”– John Thune
Enjoy your holiday weekend! Raise a toast or say a prayer for the brave men and women who never came back home.
