12 Horatio Nelson Quotes on Leadership

Horatio Nelson quotes on leadership

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

11. It is warm work; and this day may be the last to any of us at a moment. But mark you! I would not be elsewhere for thousands.

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

13. 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.

14. If I had been censured every time I have run my ship, or fleets under my command, into great danger, I should have long ago been out of the Service and never in the House of Peers.

18. The measure may be thought bold, but I am of the opinion the boldest are the safest.

22. England expects that every man will do his duty.

30. I cannot command winds and weather.

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

37. The business of the English commander-in-chief being first to bring an enemy fleet to battle on the most advantageous terms to himself, (I mean that of laying his ships close on board the enemy, as expeditiously as possible); and secondly to continue them there until the business is decided.

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

40. Let the country mourn their hero; I grieve for the loss of the most fascinating companion I ever conversed with- the greatest and most simple of men- one of the nicest and most innocent- interesting beyond all, on shore, in public and even in private life. Men are not always themselves and put on their behaviour with their clothes, but if you live with a man on board a ship for years; if you are continually with him in his cabin, your mind will soon find out how to appreciate him. I could for ever tell you the qualities of this beloved man. I have not shed a tear for years before the 21st of October and since, whenever alone, I am quite like a child.