No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse. |
The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life. |
There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. |
The one absolute certain way to bring this nation to ruin ... would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities. |
To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. |
If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs. |
Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the statesmanship of the day. |
When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'present' or 'not guilty.' |
No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency. |
Freedom is not a gift which can be enjoyed save by those shown themselves worthy of it. |
No man who is corrupt, no man who condones corruption in others, can possibly do his duty by the community. |
To educate a man in mind, and not in morals, is to educate a menace to society. |
We cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure. Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest, we have no right to keep him in public life; it matters not how brilliant his capacity. |
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. ... Every man who parrots the cry of “stand by the President” without adding the proviso “so far as he serves the Republic” takes an attitude as essentially unmanly as that of any Stuart royalist who championed the doctrine that the King could do no wrong. No self-respecting and intelligent free man could take such an attitude. |
'Liar' is just as ugly a word as 'thief,' because it implies the presence of just as ugly a sin in one case as in the other. If a man lies under oath or procures the lie of another under oath, if he perjures himself or suborns perjury, he is guilty under the statute law. |
To divide along the lines of section or caste or creed is un-American. |
In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard. |
All privileges based on wealth, and all emnity to honest men merely because they are wealthy, are un-American. |
To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. |
Free speech exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free. |
