“There is no limit to the greatness of the future before America, before our beloved land.”

The Great Adventure
1918

“It would be worse than folly on our part to ignore our need for intellectual leadership.”

Speech in Berlin
May 12, 1910

“Under our form of government, no man can accomplish anything by himself. He must work in combination with others.”

Century Magazine
January 1885

“The United States of America has not the option as to whether it will or will not play a great part in the world. It must play a great part.”

Outlook
April 1, 1911

“In popular government results worth having can only be achieved by men who combine worthy ideals with practical good sense.”

Speech in Cambridge, MA
February 23, 1907

“I honor beyond measure those who do their full duty.”

Letter, Oyster Bay, New York
July 19, 1903

“The men who wish to work for decent politics must work practically, and yet must not swerve from their devotion to a high ideal.”

Forum
July, 1894

“I believe with all my heart that the American people are fit for complete self-government.”

Speech in Columbus, OH
February 21, 1912

“We need absolute honesty in public life; and we shall not get it until we remember that truth-telling must go hand in hand with it.”

Outlook
May 12, 1900

“In the long run, the man who makes a substantial contribution toward uplifting any part of the community has helped to uplift all of the community.”

Preface to Booker T. Washington
August 28, 1916

“The one great reason for our having succeeded as no other people ever has, is to be found in that common sense which has enabled us to preserve the largest possible individual freedom.”

Life of Gouverneur Morris
1888

“There is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us.”

Speech in Osawatomie, KS
August 31, 1910