James Lawrence (October 1, 1781 – June 4, 1813) was an American naval officer. During the War of 1812, he commanded the USS Chesapeake in a single-ship action against HMS Shannon (commanded by Philip Broke). He is probably best known today for his last words or "dying command" "Don't give up the ship!", which is still a popular naval battle cry, and which was invoked by Oliver Hazard Perry's personal battle flag, adopted to commemorate his dead friend.
Read more about James Lawrence: Biography, Namesakes and Honors
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“If we remembered everything, we should on most occasions be as ill off as if we remembered nothing. It would take us as long to recall a space of time as it took the original time to elapse, and we should never get ahead with our thinking. All recollected times undergo, accordingly, what M. Ribot calls foreshortening; and this foreshortening is due to the omission of an enormous number of facts which filled them.”
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