“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

“The object of government is the welfare of the people.”

Speech in Chicago
April 10, 1899

“We should discourage driving property out of the state by unwise taxation, or levying a tax which is in effect largely a tax upon honesty.”

Annual message to the Legislature
January 2, 1899

“The first requisite for the welfare of any community is justice.”

Outlook
February 25, 1911

“A strong and wise people will study its own failures no less than its triumphs, for there is wisdom to be learned from the study of both.”

Sixth Annual Message in Washington
December 3, 1906

“The republic cannot stand if honesty and decency do not prevail alike in public and private life.”

Speech in Galena, IL
April 27, 1900