"There was an old woman in Illinois who missed some of her chickens, and couldn't imagine what had become of them. Some one suggested that they had been carried off by a skunk ; so she told her husband he must sit up that night and shoot the 'critter.' The old man sat up all night, and next morning came in with two pet rabbits. 'Thar,' said he, 'your chickens are all safe; thar's two of them skunks I killed!' 'Them ain't skunks,' said the old woman; them's my pet rabbits ; you allers was a fool!' 'Well, then,' returned the old man, 'if them ain't skunks I don't know a skunk when I sees it.' Now, Mister Secretary, the navy has been hunting pet rabbits long enough; suppose you send them after skunks."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Abraham Lincoln, as quoted in Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War (1885), by David Dixon Porter, p. 63
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/United_States_Navy
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
United States Navy
51 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by United States Navy →
Related Quotes
"May thy service united ne'er sever, but hold to the colors so true! The Army and Navy forever! Three cheers for the r…"
"Stout hearts, my laddies! If the row comes, REMEMBER THE MAINE, and show the world how American sailors can fight."
"For in this modern world, the instruments of warfare are not solely for waging war. Far more importantly, they are th…"
"Hurrah! Hurrah! For ev'ry Yankee Tar!"
"The United States Navy controls all of the oceans of the world... [A]ny seagoing vessel—commercial or military, from …"
"You navy fellows have no business on shore anyway, and can keep your stores on board your vessels; I shall take that …"
"I am here by order of my commanding officer, to protect naval property, and prevent any person in the navy from being…"
"Under our Republic we support an army less than that of any European power of any standing and a navy less than that …"
"We should have a good navy, and our sea-coast defences should be put in the finest possible condition. Neither of the…"
"America is a maritime nation: its security, resilience, and economic prosperity are fundamentally linked to the world…"