I have no fear nor shrinking; I have seen death so often that it is not strange or fearful to me.
Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone.

Edith Louisa Cavell (4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse, humanitarian and spy. She is celebrated for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I, for which she was arrested. She was court-martialled, found guilty of treason and executed.

Quotes

  • I can’t stop while there are lives to be saved.
    • As quoted in "Edith Cavell" by Helen Judson in The American Journal of Nursing (July 1941), p. 871
  • Someday, somehow, I am going to do something useful, something for people. They are, most of them, so helpless, so hurt and so unhappy.
    • As quoted in The Economist (15 October 2010), p. 107

Last statements (1915)

Last statements prior to her execution (11 October 1915), as reported in an account by Reverend H. Stirling Gahan, in Source Records of the Great War (1923), edited by Charles F. Horne, Vol. III
  • I have no fear nor shrinking; I have seen death so often that it is not strange or fearful to me.
  • I thank God for this ten weeks' quiet before the end... Life has always been hurried and full of difficulty... This time of rest has been a great mercy.
  • They have all been very kind to me here. But this I would say, standing as I do in view of God and eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone.
    • Though said the night before her execution this statement has often been presented as having been her last. Variants of these words have sometimes been misattributed to Florence Nightingale. "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone." is inscribed beneath her statue at St. Martin's Place in London.

Quotes about Cavell

  • It was a pity that Miss Cavell had to be executed, but it was necessary. She was judged justly. We hope it will not be necessary to have any more executions.
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