“War is a dreadful thing, and unjust war is a crime against humanity.”

Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

“This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in.”

Speech in Chicago, IL
June 17, 1912

“Government by the people means that the people have the right to do their own thinking and to do their own speaking about their public servants.”

In the Kansas City Star
April 6, 1918

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

Letter, Oyster Bay, New York
July 19, 1903

“I would regard it as an unspeakable calamity for this Nation to have to turn its whole energies into exaggerated militarism.”

In The Kansas City Star
May 12, 1918

“It is impossible to win the great prizes of life without running risks.”

An Autobiography

1913

“I think I hate nothing more than a bluff where the bluffer does not intend to make it good.”

Letter to H.C. Lodge, May 2, 1896

“It is folly to strengthen our foes by assailing our friends.”

Century,
February, 1890

“We must shape conditions so that each man shall have a fair chance in life.”

At Pacific Theological Seminary,
Spring 1911

“A half-truth is always simple, whereas the whole truth is very, very difficult.”

The New York Times,
September 27, 1914

“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 Legislature,
January 2, 1899

“Prosperity can never be created by law alone, although it is easy enough to destroy it by mischievous laws.”

First annual message, Washington DC,
December 3, 1901