“There are many qualities which we need alike in private citizen and in public man… courage, honesty, and common sense.”

Inaugural Address as Governor
January 2, 1899

“We believe in all our hearts in democracy; in the capacity of the people to govern themselves.”

Speech in Saratoga, NY
September 27, 1910

“I want to see every man vote. I would rather have you come to the polls even if you voted against me than have you shirk your duty.”

Speech in Richland, NY
October 29, 1898

“In the ordinary and low sense which we attach to the words ‘partisan’ and ‘politician,’ a judge of the Supreme Court should be neither.”

Letter to Henry Cabot Lodge, July 10, 1902

“Each of us has not only his duty to himself, his family and his neighbors, but his duty to the State and to the nation.”

Speech in Colorado Springs, CO
August 2, 1901

“Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing and common sense.”

Speech at the New York State Fair, September 7, 1907

“Neither our national nor our local civic life can be what it should unless it is marked by the fellow-feeling, the mutual kindness, the mutual respect, the sense of common duties, and common interests.”

Century
January, 1900

“It is a sign of marked political weakness in any commonwealth if the people tend to be carried away by mere oratory.”

Speech in Paris, April 23, 1910

“A wise and upright judge can render, and does render, in the long run, rather better service than can be rendered even by the right type of executive or legislative officer.”

Outlook
March 4, 1911

“There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of giant sequoias and redwoods, the Canyon of the Colorado, the Canyon of the Yellowstone, the Three Tetons; and our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children’s children forever, with their majestic beauty unmarred.”

Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter, 1905

“Patriotism means services to the nation; and only those who render such service are fit to enjoy the privilege of citizenship.”

Speech in Syracuse, New York, September 7, 1903

“Patriotism means services to the nation; and only those who render such service are fit to enjoy the privilege of citizenship.”

Speech in Lincoln, Nebraska, June 14, 1917