“The only effective way to help any man is to help him to help himself; and the worst lesson to teach him is that he can be permanently helped at the expense of someone else.”

Oxford University
June 7, 1910

“When we undertake the impossible, we often fail to do anything at all.”

Chicago, Illinois
September 3, 1900

“Viewed from any angle, ignorance is the costliest crop that can be raised in any part of this Union.”

Tuskegee, Alabama
October 24, 1905

“The point to be aimed at is the protection of the individual against wrong, not the attempt to limit and hamper the acquisition and output of wealth.”

Annual Message as Governor
Albany, New York, January 3, 1900

“If a party raises an issue which it knows is a false issue, merely for the hope of carrying an election, then that party shows in the most striking way that it is the enemy of the country and unfit to be entrusted with its government.”

Akron, Ohio
September 23, 1899

“The distinguishing feature of our American governmental system is the freedom of the individual; it is quite as important to prevent his being oppressed by many men as it is to save him from the tyranny of one.”

Thomas H. Benton
1887

“Such a body as the Secret Service … is by far the most efficient instrument possible to use against crime. Of course the more efficient an instrument is, the more dangerous it is if misused.”

Message to House of Representatives
January 4, 1909

“Our country has been populated by pioneers, and therefore it has more energy, more enterprise, more expansive power than any other in the wide world.”

St. Paul, Minnesota
September 2, 1901

“If you have an ideal only good while you sit at home, an ideal that nobody can live up to in outside life, examine it closely, and then cast it away.”

Groton Massachusetts,
May 24, 1904