“There are good men and bad men of all nationalities, creeds and colors; and if this world of ours is ever to become what we hope
some day it may become, it must be by the general
recognition that the man’s heart and soul, the
man’s worth and actions, determine
his standing.”

– Letter to Baron d’Estournelles De Constant,
Oyster Bay, New York, September 1, 1903

“I have a perfect horror of words that are not backed up by deeds.”

– Oyster Bay, New York, July 7, 1915

“To sit home, read one’s favorite paper, and scoff at the misdeeds of the men who do things is easy, but it is markedly ineffective. It is
what evil men count upon the good men’s doing.”

– The Outlook, December 21, 1895

“Men can never escape being governed. Either they must govern themselves or they must submit to being governed by others.”

– Jamestown, Virginia, April 26, 1907

“Reform is always held back by hypocrisy.”

– The Outlook, November 11, 1911

“The corner-stone of the Republic lies in our treating each man on his worth as a man, paying no heed to his creed, his birthplace, or his occupation … asking only whether he acts decently and honorably
in the various relations of his life, whether he behaves well
to his family, to his neighbors, to the state.”

– Jamestown, Virginia, April 26, 1907

“It either is or ought to be evident to every one that business has to prosper before anybody can get any benefit from it.”

– February 21, 1912, Ohio State Constitutional Convention, Columbus, OH

“The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is
that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight.”

– New York City, November 11, 1902

“It is character that counts in a nation as in a man.”

– Galena, Illinois, April 27, 1900

“When the people will not or cannot work together; when they permit groups of extremists to decline to accept anything that does not coincide with their own extreme views, or when they let power slip from their hands through sheer supine indifference; then they have themselves chiefly to blame if the power is grasped by stronger hands.”

– Oliver Cromwell, 1900

“Avoid the base hypocrisy of condemning in one man what you pass over in silence when committed by another.”

– Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 11, 1890

“No man is a good citizen unless he so acts as to show that he actually uses the Ten Commandments, and translates the Golden Rule into his life conduct.”

– Boy Scouts of America handbook, 1911