“The joy of life is won in its deepest and truest sense only by those who have not shirked life’s burdens.”

Speech in Syracuse, NY
September 7, 1903

“The only practical politics is honest politics.”

At Trinity Methodist Church, Newburgh, NY, February 28, 1900

“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

“We do not, as a people, suffer from the lack of criticism, but we do suffer from the lack of impartial and intelligent criticism.”

Century,
February, 1890

“We, here in America, hold in our hands the hope of the world, the fate of the coming years.”

Speech at Carnegie Hall
March 20, 1912

“Patriotism should be an integral part of our every feeling at all times.”

Fear God and Take Your Own Part
1916

“No law is worth anything unless there is the right kind of man behind it.”

Outlook, January 21, 1911

“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