“Lincoln was a great radical. He was of course a wise and cautious radical – otherwise he could have done nothing for the forward movement.”

– The Foes of Our Own Household, 1917

“Americanism is a question of principle, of purpose, of idealism, of character; … not a matter of birthplace, or creed, or line of descent.”

– Washington, DC, November 25, 1908

“Our loyalty is due entirely to the United States. It is due to the President only and exactly to the degree in which he efficiently serves the United States. It is our duty to support him when he serves the United States well. It is our duty to oppose him when he serves it badly.”

– Kansas City Star, April 6, 1918

“All for each, and each for all, is a good motto, but only on condition that each works with might and main to so maintain himself as not to be a burden to others.”

– An Autobiography, 1913

“We must remember not to judge any public servant by any one act, and especially should we beware of attacking the men who are merely the occasions and not the causes of disaster.”

– Chicago, Illinois, April 10, 1899

“Self-governing free men must have the power to accept necessary compromises, to make necessary concessions, each sacrificing somewhat of prejudice, even of principle, and every group must show the necessary subordination of its particular interest of the community as a whole.”

– Oliver Cromwell, 1900

“We know that there are in life injustices which we are powerless
to remedy. But we also know that there is much injustice which can be remedied.”

– The Outlook, March 27, 1909

“I have a strong feeling that it is a President’s duty to get on with Congress if he possibly can, and that it is a reflection upon him if he and Congress come to a complete break.”

– Letter to Theodore Roosevelt Jr., January 31, 1909

“If we fail, the cause of free self-government throughout the world will rock to its foundations.”

– Inaugural address, March 4, 1905

“The only true conservative is the man who resolutely sets his face toward the future.”

– Letter to Colonel Thomas Doherty
read March 2, 1912 at a rally at Tremont
Temple in Boston, Massachusetts

“Three-o’clock-in-the-morning courage is the most desirable kind.”

– An Autobiography, 1913

“The man who makes a promise which he does not intend to keep, and does not try to keep, should rightly be adjudged to have forfeited in some degree what should be every man’s most precious possession – his honor.”

– San Francisco, California, May 14, 1903