Virginia Military Institute Quotes

“The Institute will be heard from today.”

“At VMI integrity subconsciously becomes a way of life.”

“No college in America can match the record of the Institute in training the citizen-soldier.”

“Wikipedia: Virginia Military Institute”

“The whole history of VMI is a triumphant chronicle of the part which the citizen-soldier can play in a democracy.”

“You have something most people can only dream of- you belong to a beautiful place, a beautiful history, a beautiful people. You were and are so lucky.”

“I do not pretend to be without bias. Who ever tried to write a history of a college unless it meant much to him? Every effort, nevertheless, has been made to be accurate.”

“Virginia Military Institute (VMI): Established in 1839 in Lexington, Virginia, VMI had 1,902 alumni by the outbreak of the Civil War. Of this number, 1781 would fight for the Confederacy. One-third of the field officers commanding Virginia's Civil War regiments were graduates.”

“I have always felt that track fit naturally with the VMI system. Ability, self-discipline, and determination are overriding factors, and dependence on weight and size is minimized. Individual performance is the foundation, but team spirit is critical too, and that is what VMI tries to teach us.”

“Well it's where I spend my life, about nine months of the year
Where it always rains and never shines, and you're not allowed to drink beer
Where folks called Rats play with geese scat and give everybody pink-eye
There ain't noplace like it in the whole dang world, it's a place called VMI”

“Well, it's where we'll spend our lives, about four whole years
Then watch that old rearview mirror, as it all just disappears
Where you come a boy and leave a man, and meet the friends of a lifetime
There ain't noplace like it in the whole dang world, it's a place called VMI”

“Thus ended VMI's seemingly brief affiliation with horses. The memories are still strong, I suppose, because of the thrill that riding brought to cadets at the Institute, or maybe as a welcome diversion from the strict regimentation at VMI. The horse offered a taste of the Old South that drew crowds to VMI, and the VMI cadet is at his best when there is a crowd.”

“My teaching environment is the Corps of Cadets. The Corps is an experience in living with and dealing with problems. Mostly people problems. In every respect these problems are real. By real, I mean real. Cadets may be hurt, physically or emotionally, or many relationships within the Corps may be affected and the cadets have to live with the consequences of their actions.”

“Oh clear the way V.M.I. is out today,
We're here to win this game;
Our team will bring us fame;
In Alma Mater's name.
For though the odds be against us we'll not care,
You'll see us fight the same;
Always the same old spirit and we'll triumph once again,
And though defeat seems certain it's the same with V.M.I.;
Our battle cry is 'Never never die!'”

“For when our line starts to weaken, our backs fail to gain,
Our ends are so crippled to win seems in vain,
Then the Corps roots the loudest, we'll yet win the day;
The team it will rally and Fight! Fight! Fight! Ray!
We'll gain thru the line and we'll circle the ends,
Old Red White and Yellow will triumph again,
The 'Keydets' will fight 'em and never say die,
That's the spirit of V.M.I.!”

“The challenges of civilian or military life after VMI are often laughable compared to what they have been through. They are ready for what the world has to throw at them- and the world is badly in need of them. The highest accolade one can pay is that in this state and country, and the world, is a better place to live in because of this little fortress-like barracks in Lexington. Would that we had a hundred like it!”

“Learning to bear the consequences of their actions is difficult for many young men but it is essential for the development of their character. Our founder, Gen. Francis H. Smith, mentioned this as the first lesson he had learned as a cadet at West Point. When addressing the VMI Corps upon the resumption of academic exercises in 1866, he said, "This, then, is the great lesson first impressed upon me on my entrance upon military life as a cadet... my personal responsibility as founded upon my own individual action."”

“I think it real strongly that athletics is more important at a school like VMI than it is anywhere else. It's almost a necessity to have a good program- one that's competitive with our adversaries and not just participatory. We need competing teams, whatever the season is, in order to keep the morale up in Barracks. We don't have to win all the time, but we need to go with the expectation that we have a chance to win. VMI can compete with almost anybody; most VMI people deep down really believe that.”

“VMI has many notable works of art. Some of these fine pieces memorialize national heroes, VMI professors, world leaders; others are symbolic of great events and themes in world history. Many are by great sculptors such as Sir Moses Ezekiel and Benjamen Clinedinst. These works are on display throughout the VMI post, not just on the parade ground or in Memorial Garden. A tour of VMI and its historical buildings is an exciting cultural experience to be treasured, in part because of the diversity and richness of its fine arts.”

“The war, when it came, broke in rudely on the routine of the Institute and the ambitious plans of Colonel Smith. It is a testimony to him, the faculty, and the cadets that this basically academic institution was ready to march when the drums sounded assembly. The war gave meaning to the untested military mission of VMI: as former professor "stonewall" Jackson had predicted, the Institute was heard from during the Civil War. The conflict also provided the Institute its most heroic chapter at the Battle of New Market, but the price was staggering and the war left the school in ruins.”