The quote database

If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend.

Such is man, and so must he be understood by those who would lead him, even to his own best interests.

The leading rule for a lawyer, as for the man of every other calling, is diligence.

Our cause, then, must be intrusted to, and conducted by, its own undoubted friends--those whose hands are free, whose hearts are in the work, who do care for the result.

If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our duty fearlessly and effectively.

Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the government, nor of dungeons to ourselves.

His duty is to administer the present Government as it came to his hands and to transmit it unimpaired by him to his successor.

Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people?

that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in

Energy in the Executive is a leading character in the definition of good government.

In administering the laws of Congress I shall keep steadily in view the limitations as well as the extent of the Executive power trusting thereby to discharge the functions of my office without transcending its authority.

The powers of patronage and rule which would have been exercised, under the President, over a vast and populous and naturally wealthy region are greater than, unless under extreme necessity, I should be willing to intrust to any one man.

Nay, ’tis woman’s strongest vindication for speaking that the world needs to hear her voice.

A race cannot be purified from without.

Teach them that there is a race with special needs which they and only they can help; that the world needs and is already asking for their trained, efficient forces.

Only the BLACK WOMAN can say “when and where I enter, in the quiet, undisputed dignity of my womanhood, without violence and without suing or special patronage, then and there the whole Negro race enters with me.”

The case before us illustrates better than most that the judicial power is often difficult in its exercise.

our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint

My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.

The oath taken in the presence of the people becomes a mutual covenant.

Profound and powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world, and the urgent question of our time is whether we can make change our friend and not our enemy.

I learned the lesson that great men cultivate love, and that only little men cherish a spirit of hatred.

Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.

War is the province of danger, and therefore courage above all things is the first quality of a warrior.