Let me alone: I have yet my legs and one arm. Tell the surgeon to make haste and his instruments. I know I must lose my right arm, so the sooner it's off the better.
Interpretation
This quote reflects courage in the face of certain loss, emphasizing the importance of acting quickly in difficult situations.
Horatio Nelson's quote demonstrates incredible bravery and resolve in the face of impending loss. By expressing his wish for the surgeon to act quickly to amputate his arm, Nelson showcases his acceptance of a painful reality, prioritizing decisive action and the maintenance of hope over despair. It highlights how individuals can confront their adversities with strength and determination, even when faced with life-altering challenges.
In practice
During a motivational speech to inspire a group of athletes preparing for a tough competition.
Firstly, you must always implicitly obey orders, without attempting to form any opinion of your own respecting their propriety. Secondly, you must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of your king; and thirdly, you must hate a Frenchman, as you do the devil.
Never break the neutrality of a port or place, but never consider as neutral any place from whence an attack is allowed to be made.
To do nothing was disgraceful; therefore I made use of my understanding.
In honour I gained them, and in honour I will die with them.
Duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it, however painful it may be.
First gain the victory and then make the best use of it you can.
Can any man be courageous who has the fear of death in him?
A lot of people refuse to do things because they don't want to go naked, don't want to go without guarantee. But that's what's got to happen. You go naked until you die.
I have lived on a razors edge. So what if you fall off. I'd rather be doing something I wanted to do. I'd walk it again.
One cannot answer for his courage when he has never been in danger.
If there is one thing I fear less than everything else, it is, I believe, persecution for my opinions. There are a good many points about which I may be diffident, but when it comes to questions of Truth and intellectual independence, there is no holding me - I can envisage no finer end than to sacrifice oneself for a conviction.
I was as afraid as the next man in my time and maybe more so. But with the years, fear had come to be regarded as a form of stupidity to be classed with overdrafts, acquiring a venereal disease or eating candies. Fear is a child's vice and while I loved to feel it approach, as one does with any vice, it was not for grown men and the only thing to be afraid of was the presence of true and imminent danger in a form that you should be aware of and not be a fool if you were responsible for others.
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