“Washington and Lincoln set the standard of conduct for the public servants of this people.”

Letter to Sir George Otto Trevelyan
November 6, 1908

“Neither in national nor in private affairs is it ordinarily advisable to make a bluff which cannot be put through.”

The Outlook
1913

“In a republic, to be successful we must learn to combine intensity of conviction with a broad tolerance of difference of conviction.”

Sorbonne Address,
April 23, 1910

“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

“It is the doer of deeds who actually counts in the battle for life, and not the man who looks on and says how the fight ought to be fought.”

Atlantic Monthly
August, 1894

“We must act with justice and broad generosity and charity toward one another and toward all men if we are to make this Republic what it must and shall be made.”

Speech in New York City
February 12, 1913

“No man can get power without at the same time acquiring the duty of being held to a rigid accountability for his use of that power.”

Speech in Madison, WI
April 15, 1911

“No amount of intelligence and no amount of energy will save a nation which is not honest, and no government can ever be a permanent success if administered in accordance with base ideals.”

American Ideals
1897

“Justice is based upon law and order, and without law and order there can be no justice.”

Outlook
February 25, 1911

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”

Speech in Chicago, IL
April 10, 1899

“To legislate means to make laws, not merely to talk about them.”

The Forum
December 1895

“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