“There can be no compromise on the great fundamental principles of morality.”

The Strenuous Life
1900

“There are plenty of tendencies for evil in what we see round about us. Thank heaven, there are an even greater number of tendencies for good.”

Palo Alto, California
May 12, 1903

“On behalf of the nation I pay our tribute of honor to the brave dead who died so nobly.”

Letter to William H. Moody
May 14, 1904

There are many qualities which we need in order to gain success, but the three above all—for the lack of which no brilliancy and no genius can atone—are Courage, Honesty and Common Sense.

“The Key to Success in Life”
1916

“The mother is the real Atlas, who bears aloft in her strong and tender arms the destiny of the world.”

Outlook
August 27, 1910

“It is character that counts in a nation as in a man.”

Galena, Illinois
April 27, 1900

“What we really need in this country is to treat the tariff as a business proposition from the standpoint of the interests of the country as a whole, and not from the standpoint of the temporary needs of any political party.”

Speech in Logansport, Indiana
September 23, 1902

“What we want is what I have already said—a square deal in the tariff as in everything else; a square deal for the wage earner, a square deal for the employer, and a square deal for the general public.”

Outlook
January 28, 1911

“We have got but one life here and what comes after it we cannot certainly tell, but it pays, no matter what comes after it, to try and do things, to accomplish things in this life, and not merely to have a soft and pleasant time. It is the doing of things after all which really makes life worth living.“

Letter to Bellamy Storer
1899

“We are not building this country of ours for a day. It is to last through the ages.”

Address in Sacramento, California
May 19, 1903

“Reformers, if they are to do well, must look both backward and forward; must be bold and yet must exercise prudence and caution in all they do.”

Introduction to The Wisconsin Idea
1912

“The really valuable—the invaluable—reform is that which in actual practice works.”

Metropolitan
May 1917