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John Paul Jones Quotes (1747-1792)
Revolutionary
About John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (6 July 1747 – 18 July 1792) was a Scottish American sailor and the United States' first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. Although he made many friends and enemies among America's political elites, his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to this day. As such, he is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the American Navy" (an epithet he shares with John Barry). He later served in the Imperial Russian Navy, subsequently obtaining the rank of rear admiral.
Best John Paul Jones Quotes
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Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful John Paul Jones quotes.
“I have not yet begun to fight!”
“I may sink, but I'll be damned if I strike!”
“Where men of fine feeling are concerned there is seldom misunderstanding.”
“I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way.”
“A navy is essentially and necessarily aristocratic. True as may be the political principles for which we are now contending they can never be practically applied or even admitted on board ship, out of port, or off soundings. This may seem a hardship, but it is nevertheless the simplest of truths. Whilst the ships sent forth by the Congress may and must fight for the principles of human rights and republican freedom, the ships themselves must be ruled and commanded at sea under a system of absolute despotism.”
John Paul Jones Quotes by Topic
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John Paul Jones on United States Navy 3 quotes
“[W]ithout a Respectable Navy, Alas America!”
John Paul Jones on Ships 2 quotes
“I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way.”
John Paul Jones on American Revolution 2 quotes
“An honorable Peace is and always was my first wish! I can take no delight in the effusion of human Blood; but, if this War should continue, I wish to have the most active part in it.”
John Paul Jones on Winning
“Whoever can surprize well must Conquer.”
John Paul Jones on Mellotron
“I must take it out into the middle of a field one day and burn it.”
Quotes About John Paul Jones
Gain deeper perspective through quotes about John Paul Jones from others.
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt on John Paul Jones
“The future naval officers, who live within these walls, will find in the career of the man whose life we this day celebrate, not merely a subject for admiration and respect, but an object lesson to be taken into their innermost hearts. . . . Every officer . . . should feel in each fiber of his being an eager desire to emulate the energy, the professional capacity, the indomitable determination and dauntless scorn of death which marked John Paul Jones above all his fellows.”
Samuel Eliot Morison on John Paul Jones 3 quotes
“The boy born at Arbigland in Scotland on 6 July 1747 and christened John, who later added Jones to his surname Paul, and who was generally known as Paul Jones during the height of his naval career, had a complex character and far from a simple career. Born in obscurity and poverty, he rose through his own efforts to be a distinguished naval officer and a prominent figure at the Court of Versailles. He professed to have fallen in love with America at first sight, and declared undying allegiance to the new nation; but the last five years of his life were spent in Europe. On many occasions he wrote that he had drawn his sword from pure love of liberty and as a "citizen of the world"; but he drew it for the last time in the service of the greatest despot in Europe, Imperial Catherine. He affected contempt for family and rank; but he longed to be accepted by the county families of Scotland, and his happiest years were spent in Paris under the shadow of royalty as le Chevalier Paul Jones. He professed to be indifferent to wealth; but no naval officer strove longer and more strenuously than he to exact the last penny due to him and his men for prize money. He could be tougher and rougher than the most apelike sailor on his ships; yet, when entertaining ladies on board or ashore, his manners were those of a very fastidious gentleman. He pretended total indifference to fame, but he took every possible means to place a far from modest estimate of himself before the public of two continents. And well did he succeed in this effort. Today, for every one who has heard of his fellow captains of the young Continental Navy, such as Manley, Wickes, Barry and Biddle, thousands have heard of John Paul Jones.”
Misattributed Quotes
Quotes mistakenly credited to John Paul Jones
“It is by no means enough that an officer of the Navy should be a capable mariner. He must be that, of course, but also a great deal more. He should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor.
He should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness, kindness, and charity. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention or be left to pass without its reward, even if the reward is only a word of approval. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate, though at the same time, he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from malice, thoughtlessness from incompetency, and well meant shortcomings from heedless or stupid blunder.
In one word, every commander should keep constantly before him the great truth, that to be well obeyed, he must be perfectly esteemed.”
He should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness, kindness, and charity. No meritorious act of a subordinate should escape his attention or be left to pass without its reward, even if the reward is only a word of approval. Conversely, he should not be blind to a single fault in any subordinate, though at the same time, he should be quick and unfailing to distinguish error from malice, thoughtlessness from incompetency, and well meant shortcomings from heedless or stupid blunder.
In one word, every commander should keep constantly before him the great truth, that to be well obeyed, he must be perfectly esteemed.”
About John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (6 July 1747 – 18 July 1792) was a Scottish American sailor and the United States' first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. Although he made many friends and enemies among America's political elites, his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to this day. As such, he is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the American Navy" (an epithet he shares with John Barry). He later served in the Imperial Russian Navy, subsequently obtaining the rank of rear admiral.