Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas

Except for some magnificent excursions into the deserts of Libya and up the slopes of Chapultepec, the US Marine Corps—from the American Revolution to the American Civil War—was mostly an indentured adjunct of the blue-water American Navy. In peace, a ramrod insurance against mutiny; in battle, mast-clinging marksmen intended to replicate Admiral
... See moreBenjamin H. Milligan • By Water Beneath the Walls
Our early American military services patterned themselves after European models, and the Marine Corps was no different in this regard. During the latter half of the 1600s, European navies began to train seamen as infantrymen, albeit for naval infantry duty. But it was the British who first saw the need for a professional, onboard, at-sea fighting
... See moreDick Couch • Always Faithful, Always Forward

Every tattoo parlor adjacent to a U.S. Marine base has this in innumerable design variations: Death Before Dishonor
Steven Pressfield • The Warrior Ethos

Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire
amazon.com
The Marine philosophy is to recruit for attitude and train for skills. Marines believe that attitude is a weapon system. We searched for intangible character traits: a quest for adventure, a desire to serve with the elite, and the intention to be in top physical condition.