“The prime and all-important lesson to learn is that while preparedness will not guarantee a nation against war, unpreparedness eventually insures not merely war, but utter disaster.”

Metropolitan, August, 1915

“A man must have in him a strong and earnest sense of duty and the desire to accomplish good for the commonwealth, without regard to the effect upon himself.”

Harvard Graduates’ Magazine, October, 1892

“It is eminently fitting that once a year our people should set apart a day for praise and thanksgiving to the Giver of Good.”

Proclamation
November 2, 1905

“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