The average man does not get pleasure out of an idea because he thinks it is true; he thinks it is true because he gets pleasure out of it.

There is no record in the history of a nation that ever gained anything valuable by being unable to defend itself.

No man ever quite believes in any other man.

The curse of man, and the cause of nearly all his woe, is his stupendous capacity for believing the incredible.

We have had more brilliant Presidents than Cleveland, and one or two who were considerably more profound, but we have never had one, at least since Washington, whose fundamental character was solider and more admirable.

When I reach the shades at last it will no doubt astonish Satan to discover, on thumbing my dossier, that I was a member of the Y.M.C.A.

There are no institutions in America: there are only fashions.