The line “I have not yet begun to fight” is traditionally attributed to American Revolutionary War naval commander John Paul Jones.

Who said it?

  • The quote is most famously linked to John Paul Jones during the Battle of Flamborough Head in 1779, when his badly damaged ship Bonhomme Richard was fighting the British HMS Serapis.
  • When asked if he was ready to surrender, Jones is said to have replied, “I have not yet begun to fight!” capturing his refusal to give up despite overwhelming odds.

How accurate is the quote?

  • Historians note that the exact wording may have varied; some contemporaries reported similar phrases like “I may sink, but I’ll be damned if I strike.”
  • Even if the precise words are debated, the quote is widely accepted as a distilled version of Jones’s defiant response and has become a lasting symbol of American naval determination.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.