Quotes from Horatio Nelson

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

Hardy, I do believe they have done it at last... my backbone is shot through.

You must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your King, and you must treat every Frenchman as if he were the Devil himself.

Frigates are the eyes of a fleet.

What the country needs is the annihilation of the enemy.

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

I have only one eye, I have a right to be blind sometimes... I really do not see the signal!

Our country will, I believe, sooner forgive an officer for attacking an enemy than for letting it alone.

Something must be left to chance; nothing is sure in a sea fight beyond all others.

But in case signals can neither be seen or perfectly understood no captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside the enemy.

England expects that every man will do his duty.

I am a Norfolk man and Glory in being so.

England expects every man to do his duty

If a man consults whether he is to fight, when he has the power in his own hands, it is certain that his opinion is against fighting.

When I follow my own head, I am, in general, much more correct in my judgment than following the opinion of others.

Duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it, however painful it may be.

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

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

Desperate affairs require desperate remedies.

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

Something must be left to chance; nothing is certain in a sea fight