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Edith Cavell Quotes

Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during the First World War, for which she was arrested. She was accused of treason, found guilty by a court-martial and sentenced to death. Despite international pressure for mercy, she was shot by a German firing squad. Her execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage.

The night before her execution, she said, "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone." These words were later inscribed on a memorial to her near Trafalgar Square. Her strong Anglican beliefs propelled her to help all those who needed it, both German and Allied soldiers. She was quoted as saying, "I can’t stop while there are lives to be saved." The Church of England commemorates her in its Calendar of Saints on 12 October.

Cavell, who was 49 at the time of her execution, was already notable as a pioneer of modern nursing in Belgium. Wikipedia  

✵ 4. December 1865 – 12. October 1915   •   Other names Edith Cavellová
Edith Cavell photo
Edith Cavell: 5   quotes 0   likes

Famous Edith Cavell Quotes

“I have no fear nor shrinking; I have seen death so often that it is not strange or fearful to me.”

Edith Cavell

Last statements (1915)

“They have all been very kind to me here. But this I would say, standing as I do in view of God and eternity, I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone.”

Edith Cavell

Though said the night before her execution this statement has often been presented as having been her last. Variants of these words have sometimes been misattributed to Florence Nightingale. "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone." is inscribed beneath her statue at St. Martin's Place in London.
Last statements (1915)

“I thank God for this ten weeks' quiet before the end… Life has always been hurried and full of difficulty… This time of rest has been a great mercy.”

Edith Cavell

Last statements (1915)

“Someday, somehow, I am going to do something useful, something for people. They are, most of them, so helpless, so hurt and so unhappy.”

Edith Cavell

As quoted in The Economist (15 October 2010), p. 107

“I can’t stop while there are lives to be saved.”

Edith Cavell

As quoted in "Edith Cavell" by Helen Judson in The American Journal of Nursing (July 1941), p. 871

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