“We always volunteer, sir. All of us. It's who we are.”

CRC-09/571, p. 355
Shatterpoint (2004)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "We always volunteer, sir. All of us. It's who we are." by Matthew Stover?
Matthew Stover photo
Matthew Stover 56
American writer 1962

Related quotes

Lee Evans photo
Maxwell D. Taylor photo

“A standard question for a new man was why he had volunteered for parachuting and whether he enjoyed it. On one occasion, a bright-eyed recruit startled me by replying to the latter question with a resounding "No, sir." "Why, then, if you don't like jumping did you volunteer to be a parachutist?" I asked. "Sir, I like to be with people who do like to jump," was the reply. I shook his hand vigorously and assured him that there were at least two of us of the same mind in the Division.”

Maxwell D. Taylor (1901–1987) United States general

Source: Swords and Plowshares (1972), p. 105
Context: A recruit arriving in a new unit feels lonely, homesick, and insecure. Someone has to welcome him when he arrives and make him understand that he is truly wanted. That responsibility is shared by every officer in the channel of command, beginning with the division commander. I made it a point to try to meet every new soldier joining the Division, usually assembling them in small groups for a handshake and an informal talk. A standard question for a new man was why he had volunteered for parachuting and whether he enjoyed it. On one occasion, a bright-eyed recruit startled me by replying to the latter question with a resounding "No, sir." "Why, then, if you don't like jumping did you volunteer to be a parachutist?" I asked. "Sir, I like to be with people who do like to jump," was the reply. I shook his hand vigorously and assured him that there were at least two of us of the same mind in the Division.

George W. Bush photo

“I love the military of the United States, and we are a lucky nation to have people who volunteer to serve.”

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

2010s, 2010, Interview on Today (November 2010)

Jimmy Wales photo

“We are a passionate community of volunteers who are trying to create a free encyclopedia for every single person on the planet.”

Jimmy Wales (1966) Wikipedia co-founder and American Internet entrepreneur

Wikimania 2008 Alexandria, press conference, 0'20 (August 2008), asked about Google Knol
Context: We are a passionate community of volunteers who are trying to create a free encyclopedia for every single person on the planet. So we don't often think in terms of competition. We are going to do what we do and we hope Google does wonderful things as well. … If we were approaching this as a business we would think always: Oh, how can we position ourselves on the market... We just don't do any of that stuff.

Kim Harrison photo

“It is not always what we do, Sa'han, but who we love that makes us who we are. Quen”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: The Hollows Insider

François de La Rochefoucauld photo

“We always like those who admire us; we do not always like those whom we admire.”

Nous aimons toujours ceux qui nous admirent; et nous n'aimons pas toujours ceux que nous admirons.
Maxim 294.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)

Bernard Cornwell photo
George W. Bush photo

“I made it very plain: We will not have an all-volunteer army. [Crowd boos] Let me restate that. We will not have a draft.”

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

Crowd Cheers
Bush speaking at the Daytona International Speedway with his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, October 16, 2004 http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041016/nysa024_1.html
2000s, 2004

Alfred, Lord Tennyson photo
Patrick Henry photo

“They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger?”

Patrick Henry (1736–1799) attorney, planter, politician and Founding Father of the United States

This is also sometimes quoted as "The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty".
1770s, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" (1775)
Context: They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?
Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of Liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.

Related topics