From the beginning of our history the country has been afflicted with compromise. It is by compromise that human rights have been abandoned.

The true greatness of nations is in those qualities which constitute the greatness of the individual.

Moral excellence is the bright consummate flower of all progress.

War crushes with bloody heel all justice, all happiness, all that is Godlike in man. In our age there can be no peace that is not honorable; there can be no war that is not dishonorable.

Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud. I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth. I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace.

Whether the Union stands or falls, I believe the profession of arms will henceforth be more desirable and more respected than it has been hitherto.

I am without religious feeling.