Something must be left to chance; nothing is certain in a sea fight

The bravest man feels an anxiety 'circa praecordia' as he enters the battle; but he dreads disgrace yet more.

No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.

Time is everything; five minutes make the difference between victory and defeat.

If I had been censured every time I have run my ship, or fleets under my command, into great danger, I should have long ago been out of the Service and never in the House of Peers.

Duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it, however painful it may be.

Buonaparte has often made his boast that our fleet would be worn out by keeping the sea and that his was kept in order and increasing by staying in port; but know he finds, I fancy, if Emperors hear the truth, that his fleet suffers more in a night than ours in one year.