„May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my Country and for the benefit of Europe in general a great and glorious victory; and may no misconduct in anyone tarnish it; and may humanity after Victory be the predominant feature of the British fleet. For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may His blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen. Amen.“

„I may not have a country with boundaries, but my country is in me. My country is in my soul and in my heart. I am Assyria.“

—  Rosie Malek-Yonan Assyrian actress, author, director, public figure and human rights activist 1965

As quoted in The Crimson Field.
The Crimson Field (2005)

„I feel that my duty has been faithfully, though it may be imperfectly, performed, and, whatever the result may be, I shall carry to my grave the consciousness that I at least meant well for my country.“

—  James Buchanan American politician, 15th President of the United States (in office from 1857 to 1861) 1791 - 1868

Speech to Congress (8 January 1861).
Contexte: It is said that serious apprehensions are to some extent entertained (in which I do not share) that the peace of this District may be disturbed before the 4th of March next. In any event, it will be my duty to preserve it, and this duty shall be performed.
In conclusion it may be permitted to me to remark that I have often warned my countrymen of the dangers which now surround us. This may be the last time I shall refer to the subject officially. I feel that my duty has been faithfully, though it may be imperfectly, performed, and, whatever the result may be, I shall carry to my grave the consciousness that I at least meant well for my country.

„Grant me grace, O God! that I
My life may mend, sith I must die.“

—  Robert Southwell English Jesuit 1561 - 1595

Source: Upon the Image of Death, Line 53; p. 138.

„Great God, I ask thee for no meaner pelf
Than that I may not disappoint myself,
That in my action I may soar as high
As I can now discern with this clear eye.“

—  Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist 1817 - 1862

Prayer http://www.walden.org/Institute/thoreau/writings/poetry/Great%20God.htm, st. 1 (1842)

„May God bless our country and all who defend her.“

—  George W. Bush 43rd President of the United States 1946

2000s, 2003, Invasion of Iraq (March 2003)

„For when scrutinized in terms not of what it is but of how it functions, of how it has served mankind in the past, of how it may serve today, mythology shows itself to be as amenable as life itself to the obsessions and requirements of the individual, the race, the age.“

—  Joseph Campbell, livre The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Epilogue
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)

„When I forget my sovereign, may my God forget me.“

—  Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow British lawyer and Tory politician 1731 - 1806

27 Parliamentary History, 680; Annual Register, 1789. Wilkes is reported to have replied, somewhat coarsely, but not unhappily it must be allowed, "Forget you! He ’ll see you damned first". Edmund Burke also exclaimed, "The best thing that could happen to you!" —Henry Peter, Lord Brougham, Statesmen of the Time of George III (Thurlow).

„I am fully aware that this country is on the brink of a shooting war in two oceans, and that I might, in a very short while, find myself in the thick of very serious combat work. But what should be done, can be done, and the best way is always through and not around. Every man whom I have admired in history has willingly and courageously served in his country's armed forces in times of danger. It is not only a duty, but an honor, to follow their example as best I know how. May God give me the courage and ability to so conduct myself in every situation that my country, my family, and my friends will be proud of me.“

—  Nile Kinnick College football player 1918 - 1943

Journal entry upon entering the armed services (December 3, 1941)

„Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope, that my Country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.“

—  George Washington first President of the United States 1732 - 1799

1790s, Farewell Address (1796)

„What a dawning appears to the man or woman who earnestly inquires, 'Who is living my life for me?' Am I really thinking for myself or am I unknowingly projecting acquired ideas which may be all wrong?“

—  Vernon Howard American writer 1918 - 1992

Psycho-Pictography

„I was very happy. I thought I would cut my way through life.... victory after victory, [laughing.. ] Well, I adjusted as soon as they carried me into my mother. Half of my victories fell to the ground.. [she pauses].. My mother had victories.“

—  Agnes Martin American artist 1912 - 2004

her candid, weather-beaten face darkens abruptly
Mary Lance, in 'With My Back to the World' a documentary made in 2002; as quoted by Olivia Laing,
Martin claimed she could remember the exact moment of her birth. She had entered the world, she tells Lance, 'as a small figure with a little sword'
after 2000

„If I solve my dispute with my neighbor by killing him, I have certainly solved the immediate dispute. If my neighbor was a scoundrel, then the world is no doubt better for his absence. But in killing my neighbor, though he may have been a terrible man who did not deserve to live, I have made myself a killer — and the life of my next neighbor is in greater peril than the life of the last. In making myself a killer I have destroyed the possibility of neighborhood.“

—  Wendell Berry author 1934

"A Statement against the War in Vietnam"
The Long-Legged House (1969)

„I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.“

—  Ronald Reagan American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989) 1911 - 2004

Letter announcing Alzheimer's diagnosis http://www.nationalreview.com/document/reagan_sunset200406070915.asp (5 November 1994)
Post-presidency (1989–2004)
Contexte: In closing, let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that day may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.

„Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you. Amen.“

—  Thomas Aquinas Italian Dominican scholastic philosopher of the Roman Catholic Church 1225 - 1274

„Now I lay me down to sleep my bomb proof cellar's good and deep but if I'm killed before I wake remember god it's for your sake amen.“

—  Dalton Trumbo, livre Johnny Got His Gun

Source: Johnny Got His Gun

„Amen', … in Hebrew, is one of a cluster from a root which signifies reliability, integrity and truth. … Our utterance of it is acknowledgment of God's 'Amen', which always goes before. The recognition of God's integrity and truthfulness, unswerving faithfulness in execution of his promises, is so central to Judaism's faith that 'Amen' may almost be taken as a name for God. We might miss this when we read, in the sixty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, that 'he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth', but the Hebrew here, if rendered literally, would be 'by the God Amen.“

—  Nicholas Lash British theologian 1934

Believing Three Ways in One God: A Reading of the Apostles' Creed (1992)

„By annihilating the wicked I lightened the great weight on the globe. I delivered the country by establishing Swarajya and by saving religion. I betook myself to shake off the great exhaustion which had come upon me. I was asleep, why then, did you my darlings awaken me?“

—  Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Indian pro-independence activist,lawyer, politician, poet, writer and playwright 1883 - 1966

English translation. From the poem ‘Shivaji’s Utterances’ (and signed ‘mark of the Bhawani Sword’) which appeared in the editorial columns of the Kesari . V. D. Savarkar, quoted in Vikram Sampath - Savarkar, Echoes from a Forgotten Past, 1883–1924 (2019)

„I find I am much prouder of the victory I obtain over myself, when, in the very ardor of dispute, I make myself submit to my adversary’s force of reason, than I am pleased with the victory I obtain over him through his weakness.“

—  Michel De Montaigne (1533-1592) French-Occitan author, humanistic philosopher, statesman 1533 - 1592

Source: The Complete Essays

„Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious,
O'er a' the ills o' life victorious.“

—  Robert Burns, Tam o' Shanter

Source: Tam o' Shanter (1790), Line 57