Top 25 Quotes by Horatio Nelson of 54

Gentlemen, when the enemy is committed to a mistake we must not interrupt him too soon.

Gentlemen, when the enemy is committed to a mistake we must not interrupt him too soon.

Horatio Nelson

Mistake, Gentleman, Enemy

I am of the opinion that the boldest measures are the safest.

Horatio Nelson

Opinion

Time is everything; five minutes make the difference between victory and defeat.

Horatio Nelson

Victory And Defeat, Differences, Minutes

"Jessie Peabody. Sea Fighters from Drake to Farragut". Book by Jessie Peabody Frothingham, 1902.

England expects that every man will do his duty.

Horatio Nelson

War, Men, England

Horatio Nelson, Nicholas Harris Nicolas (2011). “The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson”, p.149, Cambridge University Press

Firstly, you must always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any opinion of your own respecting their propriety. Secondly, you must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your king; and thirdly, you must hate a Frenchman, as you do the devil.

Horatio Nelson

Kings, Hate, Men

Horatio Nelson's advice to his Midshipmen (1793) as quoted in "Memoirs of the Life of Vice-Admiral, Lord Viscount Nelson, K.B., Duke of Bronte, Etc., Etc., Etc, Volume 2" edited by Thomas Joseph Pettigrew (p. 580), 1849.

I owe all my success in life to having been always a quarter of an hour before my time.

Horatio Nelson

Change, Success In Life, Punctuality

A fleet of British ships at war are the best negotiators.

Horatio Nelson

War, Ships, British

1801 Letter to Lady Hamilton, Mar, before the Battle of Copenhagen.

No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.

Horatio Nelson

Courage, War, Enemy

Horatio Nelson, Nicholas Harris Nicolas (2011). “The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson”, p.91, Cambridge University Press

Desperate affairs require desperate measures.

Horatio Nelson

Desperate Measures, Affair, Horatio

"The Book of Military Quotations". Book by Peter G. Tsouras (p. 54), 1992.

In Sea affairs, nothing is impossible, and nothing is improbable.

Horatio Nelson

Sea, Impossible, Affair

Horatio Nelson (1846). “The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson”, p.133

I could not tread these perilous paths in safety, if I did not keep a saving sense of humor.

Horatio Nelson

Humor, Safety, Saving

Recollect that you must be a seaman to be an officer and also that you cannot be a good officer without being a gentleman.

Horatio Nelson

Gentleman, Officers, Seamen

Horatio Nelson (1846). “The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson”, p.214

First gain the victory and then make the best use of it you can.

Horatio Nelson

Inspirational, War, Victory

Horatio Nelson's remark before the battle of the Nile, August 1, 1797.

Close with a Frenchman, but out-maneuver a Russian.

Horatio Nelson

Naval, Frenchmen, Maritime

The bravest man feels an anxiety 'circa praecordia' as he enters the battle; but he dreads disgrace yet more.

Horatio Nelson

Men, Anxiety, Battle

Attributed to Locker's Greenwich Gallery article "Torrington" in Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan "The Life of Nelson, Volume 2: The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain" (p. 52), 1897.

I cannot command winds and weather.

Horatio Nelson

Wind, Weather, Horatio

Horatio Nelson, Nicholas Harris Nicolas (2011). “The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson”, p.61, Cambridge University Press

The politics of courts are so mean that private people would be ashamed to act in the same way; all is trick and finesse, to which the common cause is sacrificed.

Horatio Nelson

Mean, People, Would Be

Horatio Nelson, Nicholas Harris Nicolas (2011). “The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson”, p.88, Cambridge University Press