Hale is in the American pantheon not because of what he did but because of why he did it.
I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
I greatly fear some of America’s greatest and most dangerous enemies are such as think themselves her best friends.
Let us march immediately, and never lay down our arms until we obtain our independence.
I am not influenced by the expectation of promotion or pecuniary reward. I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary for the public good, becomes honorable by being necessary.
Liberty? Independence? Are they to remain only words? Gentlemen, let us make them fighting words!
I should probably bequeath the copyrights to my screenplay for Spies Like Us, just in case.
It is the duty of every good officer to obey any orders given him by his commander-in-chief.
If the exigencies of my country demand a peculiar service, its claims to perform that service are imperious.
There is no god of war. War is built and controlled by human hands – humans start it, humans stop it.