The men who succeed best in public life are those who take the risk of standing by their own convictions.
James A. GarfieldIndividuals may wear for a time the glory of our institutions, but they carry it not to the grave with them. Like raindrops from heaven, they may pass through the circle of the shining bow and add to its luster; but when they have sunk in the earth again, the proud arch still spans the sky and shines gloriously on.
James A. GarfieldI love agitation and investigation and glory in defending unpopular truth against popular error.
James A. GarfieldFew men in our history have ever obtained the Presidency by planning to obtain it.
James A. GarfieldThe world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains have been pealing along down the centuries, and though there have been mingled the discords of warring cannon and dying men, yet to the Christian philosopher and historian - the humble listener - there has been a Divine melody running through the song which speaks of hope and halcyon days to come.
James A. Garfield