“ The war... was an unnecessary condition of affairs, and might have been avoided if forebearance and wisdom had been practiced on both sides. Robert E. Lee
“ They seemed so united that I loved them as one person." Lee wrote of his son and daughter-in-law on his daughter-in-law's death. Robert E. Lee
“ I have been up to see the Congress and they do not seem to be able to do anything except to eat peanuts and chew tobacco, while my army is starving. Robert E. Lee
“ What a cruel thing war is... to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors. Robert E. Lee
“ You must study to be frank with the world: Frankness is the child of honesty and courage. Robert E. Lee
“ In this enlightened age, there are few I believe, but what will acknowledge, that slavery as an institution is a moral & political evil in any country. It is useless to expatiate on its disadvantages. Robert E. Lee
“ It is easier to make our wishes conform to our means than to make our means conform to our wishes. Robert E. Lee
“ True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another, and the motive which impels them the desire to do right is precisely the same. Robert E. Lee
“ A Union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets has no charm for me. If the Union is dissolved and government disrupted, I shall return to my native state and share the miseries of my peopl… Robert E. Lee
“ The march of Providence is so slow and our desires so impatient; the work of progress so immense and our means of aiding it so feeble; the life of humanity is so long, that of the individual so brief,… Robert E. Lee
