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My aim, then, was to whip the rebels, to humble their pride, to follow them to their inmost recesses, and make them fear and dread us. Fear is the beginning of wisdom.

William Tecumseh Sherman

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William Tecumseh Sherman
Age: 71 †
Born: 1820
Born: February 8
Died: 1891
Died: February 14
Banker
Lawyer
Military Officer
U.S. General
William T. Sherman
General Sherman
Fear
Rebel
Make
Dread
Recesses
Aim
Humble
Inmost
Follow
Recess
Beginning
Rebels
Pride
Whip
Wisdom
Whips

More quotes by William Tecumseh Sherman

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Some of you young men think that war is all glamour and glory, but let me tell you, boys, it is all hell!
William Tecumseh Sherman
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The voice of the people is the voice of humbug.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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You people of the South don't know what you are doing. This country will be drenched in blood, and God only knows how it will end. It is all folly, madness, a crime against civilization! You people speak so lightly of war you don't know what you're talking about.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day than any of you to secure peace.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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The carping and bickering of political factions in the nation's capital reminds me of two pelicans quarreling over a dead fish.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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I will not accept if nominated, and will not serve if elected.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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The whole army is burning with an insatiable desire to wreak violence upon South Carolina. I almost tremble for her fate.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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There's many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory but it is all hell.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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...[We] must stop these swarms of Jews who are trading, bartering and robbing.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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We cannot change the hearts of the people of the South, but we can make war so terrible that they will realize the fact that however brave and gallant and devoted to their country still they are mortal and should exhaust all peaceful remedies before they fly to war.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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I will accept no commission that would tend to create a rivalry with Grant. I want him to hold what he has earned and got. I have all the rank I want.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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Hold the fort! I am coming!
William Tecumseh Sherman
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You may as well say, 'That's a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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I'm a damned sight smarter than Grant I know more about organization, supply and administration and about everything else than he does but I'll tell you where he beats me and where he beats the world. He don't care a damn for what the enemy does out of his sight but it scares me like hell.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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I make up my opinions from facts and reasoning, and not to suit any body but myself. If people don't like my opinions, it makes little difference as I don't solicit their opinions or votes.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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An army is a collection of armed men obliged to obey one man. Every enactment, every change of rule which impairs this principle weakens the army, impairs its value, and defeats the very object of its existence.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen, and I say let us give them all they want.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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The young bloods of the South: sons of planters, lawyers about towns, good billiard-players and sportsmen, men who never did any work and never will... They are splendid riders, first-rate shots and utterly reckless. These men must all be killed or employed by us before we can hope for peace.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.
William Tecumseh Sherman
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I want peace, and believe it can only be reached through union and war, and I will ever conduct war with a view to perfect an early success.
William Tecumseh Sherman