"You earned the title 'Marine' upon graduation from recruit training. It wasn't willed to you; it isn't a gift; it isn't a government subsidy. Few can claim the title; no one may ever take it away. It is yours forever." - Master Sergeant Thomas Bartlett, USMC
"The Marine Corps has just been called by the New York Times, 'The elite of this country.' I think the Times is wrong. I think it is the elite of the world." - Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, U.S. Navy
"I am convinced that there is no smarter, handier, or more adaptable body of troops in the world." - Prime Minister of Great Britain Sir Winston Churchill
"The Marines fought almost solely on esprit de corps. It was inconceivable to most Marines that they should let another Marine down, or that they could be responsible for dimming the bright reputation of their Corps." - war correspondent Robert Sherrod at Tarawa
"I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world." - General Douglas MacArthur, U.S. Army
"The safest place in Korea was right behind a platoon of Marines. Lord, how they could fight." - Major General Frank Lowe, U.S. Army
"I can never see a United States Marine without experiencing a feeling of reverence." - General Lewis Johnson, U.S. Army
"The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle." - General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army
"The 1st Marine Division is the most efficient and courageous combat unit I have ever seen or heard of." - Major General Frank E. Lowe, U.S. Army
"The more Marines I have around, the better I like it." - General Mark Clark, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army
"You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced, to the point of arrogance, that they are the most ferocious fighters on earth - and the amusing thing about it is that they really are." - Father Kevin Keaney, USNR, Chaplain, 1st Marine Division
"Goddamn it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!" - Captain Henry P. "Jim" Crowe, USMC, Guadacanal, 1943
"I have only two survivors out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." - First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, USMC, Soissons, 1918; later Commandant, USMC
"Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?" - Sergeant Major Dan Daly, USMC, Belleau Wood
"Retreat, Hell! We just got here." - Captain Lloyd Williams, USMC, to the French at Battle of Belleau Wood
"Don't forget that you're the First Marines! Not all the Communists in Hell can overrun you!" - Colonel Lewis "Chesty" Puller, USMC, with his forces outnumbered twenty to one and under human wave assaults by hordes of Chinese at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea
"Casualties many; percentage of dead not known; combat efficiency: we are winning." - Colonel David M. Shoup, USMC, in the darkest hour at Tarawa, 1943
"They're on our right, they're on our left, they're in front of us, they're behind us; they can't get away from us this time." - Colonel Lewis "Chesty" Puller, USMC, at the Chosin Reservoir
"Every Marine is, first and foremost, a rifleman. All other conditions are secondary." - General A.M. Gray, Commandant, USMC
"For the Marine Corps there is no peace." - Sergeant Edwin N. Demby, USMC; later Secretary of the Navy
"When an Army captain asked him for the direction of the line of retreat, Colonel Puller called his Marine artillerymen, gave them the Army position, and ordered, 'If they start to pull back from that line, even one foot, I want you to open fire on them.' Turning to the captain, he replied 'Does that answer your question? We're here to fight, not run.'" - account of Colonel Lewis "Chesty" Puller, USMC, in Korea
"Do not attack the First Marine Division. Leave the yellowlegs alone. Strike the American Army instead." - orders given to Communist troops in the Korean War
"Remember, whatever you write, this was no retreat. All that happened was that we found more Chinese behind us than in front of us, so we about-faced and attacked." - Colonel Lewis "Chesty" Puller, USMC, speaking to reporters after the battle of the Chosin Reservoir, Korean War
"Panic sweeps my men when they are facing the American Marines!" - Captured North Korean officer
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference, and our Marines don't have that problem." - President Ronald Reagan
"I can't say enough about the two Marine divisions. If I use words like 'brilliant,' it would really be an under description of the absolutely superb job that they did." - General Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Army, Commander, U.S. Central Command
"It's a funny thing, but, as years go by, I think you appreciate more and more what a great thing it is to be a United States Marine...I am a U.S. Marine and I'll be one till I die." - Ted Williams, Baseball Hall of Famer