I have not yet begun to fight

Cultural  

1. Words attributed to the eighteenth-century naval hero John Paul Jones. He was doing battle with a British ship when his own ship was badly damaged, and the British commander called over to ask whether Jones had surrendered. He answered, “I have not yet begun to fight.” He and his crew then captured the British ship. His own ship later sank.

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Example Sentences

Resoundingly, John Paul Jones exclaimed, ‘Struck Sir? I have not yet begun to fight!’

From Fox News • Dec. 11, 2018

EST 12:08 I have not yet begun to fight.

From The Guardian • Feb. 24, 2016

They were better words, perhaps, than John Paul Jones's "I have not yet begun to fight," better, certainly, than Commodore George Dewey's pale and measured, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley."

From Time Magazine Archive

There is the exultant defiance of John Paul Jones: "I have not yet begun to fight."

From Time Magazine Archive

His comment on all this is, "I am only preparing to live," which is as heroic as Paul Jones's shout, "I have not yet begun to fight."

From Essays on Russian Novelists by Phelps, William Lyon