Giuseppe Garibaldi

One of the other sex, I thought must supply the vacant place, for I had always regarded woman as the most perfect of creatures, and believe it far easier to find a loving heart among that sex.

I saluted her; we were soon acquainted; and I found that the hidden treasure which I had discovered was of rare and inestimable worth.

I felt most deeply self-reproach on that day when, at the mouth of the Po, having landed, in our retreat from an Austrian squadron, while still hoping to restore her to life, on taking her pulse I found her a corpse, and sang the hymn of…

I prayed for forgiveness, for I thought of the sin of taking her from her home.

My wife not only refused to land, but took an active part in the engagement.

I wish, for myself, and for every other person who has not forgotten to be a man, to be exempt from the necessity of witnessing the sack of a town.

I had to contemplate a terrible spectacle on every vessel, as I visited them all in succession, the decks being strewn with the dead.

My wife was my treasure, and no less fervent in the cause of the people than myself; and she looked upon battles as an amusement, and the inconveniences of a life in the field as a pastime.

Then, whatever might happen, I was looked upon with smiles; and the more wild the extensive and desert American plains appeared, the more beautiful and delightful they seemed to our eyes.

I thought myself in the performance of my duty, in encountering and overcoming the dangers to which I exposed myself, as the object I had in view was the good of men who needed my aid.

One of those things occurred on their issuing from the wood, which prove how far man is the child of circumstances, and what effect may be produced by a panic, even on the most intrepid soldiers.

I have served the cause of the people in America, and served it with sincerity, as I everywhere fought against absolutism.

However, there were still powder and shot on board, and we must fight—not for victory, not to save ourselves, but for honor.

The enemy had never seen the backs of those true sons of liberty.

Every heart seemed to feel the palpitation of war, and the confidence of victory.

In a few minutes was to be decided the fate of the largest part of the American continent, with the destinies of a numerous people.

Oh, Italians! oh, for the day when you shall be united and enduring like those children of the desert.

I now found that although, amidst the scenes of bustle and trial through which I had passed, I had been able to banish the recollection of their affection for a time, my love for them remained lively and warm in my heart.

Other people's bread always seemed to me bitter, whenever in my diversified life I have found it necessary to partake of it; and I have been so happy as never to be dependant on any friend.

The beginning of patriotism, which then animated the people, was the same which led them to so many heroic deeds, and to sustain the most desperate of struggles, at the cost of unheard of sacrifices.

Indignant at the sight of such a scene of arrogant and inhuman oppression as that presented in Buenos Ayres and the Argentine Republic, I was impelled to present myself in opposition to the Dictator, and to adopt the cause of the injured…

I soon perceived that the spirit and character of the Italians needed great efforts, to raise them from the depressed state in which they existed in fact, as well as in the opinion of the world; and I was determined to elevate them, by…

By means of Napoleon's treachery to the cause of liberty, which he had pretended to espouse on entering Italy, that unhappy country had been led to a ruin more deep and complete than any of the other of his victims; for she had been, more…

The allies (with Protestant Prussia and England among them,) had restored the papacy along with monarchy and aristocracy; and yet the Italians were vilified as a degenerate race, and falsely accused of having brought their misfortunes upon…

In mentioning my mother—I speak it with pride—she was a model for mothers; and, in saying this, I have said all that can be said.