John F. Kelly: I grew up in Boston in a very, very, very Marine town....

We Marines believe that God gave America the greatest gift He could bestow to man while he lived on this earth -freedom. We also believe He gave us another gift nearly as precious - our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines - to safeguard that gift and guarantee no force on this earth can ever steal it away.

John F. Kelly

gift man freedom god

One day, you'll get out of the Marine Corps; you'll put your uniform up, but you'll never not be a Marine.

John F. Kelly

uniform never day you

Those with less of a sense of service to the nation never understand it when men and women of character step forward to look danger and adversity straight in the eye, refusing to blink, or give ground, even to their own deaths. The protected can't begin to understand the price paid so they and their families can sleep safe and free at night.

John F. Kelly

service women character men

I think we could very easily suffer a seriously catastrophic cyber event.

John F. Kelly

suffer seriously think cyber

Whether you're a second lieutenant working with a captain and a lieutenant colonel, or a four-star general working with the Office Secretary of Defense and the White House, the decision makers have got to have ground truth. Otherwise, the decisions they make could be flawed - and that can be dangerous.

John F. Kelly

you decision truth white

The young people I work with every day and serve the nation in the armed forces in general, and the Marine Corps in particular, have broken the mold and stepped out as men and women of character who are making their own way in life while protecting ours.

John F. Kelly

day work men life

I don't agree with registering people based on ethnicity or religion.

John F. Kelly

agree ethnicity people religion

Years ago, people didn't wear seatbelts. Now, most people wouldn't get in a car without putting a seatbelt on.

John F. Kelly

wear without car people

I'm pretty committed to the Constitution.

John F. Kelly

pretty constitution committed

Unless confronted by an immediate, visible, or uncomfortable crisis, our nation's tendency is to take the security of the Western Hemisphere for granted.

John F. Kelly

nation uncomfortable security crisis

I've learned that, in many cases, people say, 'I want ground truth,' and they don't really mean it. There are warts all over this organization, as there are in many organizations, but you just have to tell truth to power and let the chips fall where they may.

John F. Kelly

you power truth people

The one thing I was always told is you absolutely have to tell truth to power. Whether you're a second lieutenant working with a captain and a lieutenant colonel, or a four-star general working with the Office Secretary of Defense and the White House, the decision makers have got to have ground truth.

John F. Kelly

you decision power truth

Given the opportunity to do another 9/11, our vicious enemy would do it today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter. I don't know why they hate us, and I frankly don't care, but they do hate us and are driven irrationally to our destruction.

John F. Kelly

day hate opportunity today

Since 1945, no one in the U.S. military has liked the end result of the military conflicts we've been in: Vietnam, Korea, certainly Iraq, and probably Afghanistan. But in a democracy, you salute.

John F. Kelly

result end you democracy

If there's a country, and it's dangerous, and we deploy a U.S.military man or woman, if there's only one there, and they never leave the capital, that is 'boots on the ground.'

John F. Kelly

woman never man country

If you want to get into the United States, the best way, I believe, is to ride the network. There is no convergence between, say, the criminal networks and the Islamic extremist networks.

John F. Kelly

ride best you believe

I do not believe that the Sunni tribes have gone over to the Islamic State.

John F. Kelly

state over gone believe

I guess, over time, I had convinced myself that I could imagine what it would be like to lose a son or daughter. You try to imagine it so that you can write the right kind of letters or form the right words to try to comfort. But you can't even come close. It is unimaginable.

John F. Kelly

myself daughter time son

My fear was of being offered a job that would be kind of a full-time position at a veterans organization or even in the government... I'd prefer to not be that, to come up the Beltway every day.

John F. Kelly

day be-kind government fear

To lose a child is - I can't imagine anything worse than that.

John F. Kelly

lose anything child imagine

I grew up in Boston in a very, very, very Marine town. So back in my neighborhood in Boston, a working-class neighborhood, when you got your draft notice, you went down, and you took your draft physical. And then, if you passed it, you joined the Marine Corps.