Popular Internet Misquote

"You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass." Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto 

This quote, along with another misquote attributed to Thomas Jefferson, is one of the two most frequently used on the Internet and now available as a T-shirt at Patriot Post.
Although the comment he made after the successful surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, describes his assessment of fighting the United States on its homeland: 

 I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve. 

There is no written evidence that the admiral stated: 

There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass. 

However, as the Patriot Post wrote:

Commander Yamamoto understood something about private gun ownership that many politicians don't seem to understand today.  If a populace is armed and willing to fight for their freedom, it's nearly impossible to overtake their country by force.  The British found this out very well in the War for Independence. It was for this very reason that Switzerland was the only country bordering Germany that was never invaded by the Third Reich during WWII.  Germany military strategists estimated that it would cost 200,000 German casualties before Switzerland could be overtaken, which was far too great a price for the Nazis to pay.

 As far as Thomas Jefferson, who was a prolific writer, is the most misquoted person on the Internet, the Monticello Organization having a list. 

•  All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
• A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.
   
  The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. 
  
  
   
  
  

   

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