The Civil War created in this country what had never existed before - a national consciousness. It was not the salvation of the Union; it was the rebirth of the Union.

The firm basis of government is justice, not pity.

You must act in your friends' interests whether it pleases them or not; the object of love is to serve, not to win.

If I cannot retain my moral influence over a man except by occasionally knocking him down, if that is the only basis upon which he will respect me, then for the sake of his soul I have got occasionally to knock him down.

Interest does not tie nations together; it sometimes separates them. But sympathy and understanding does unite them.

The presidential office is not a rosewater affair. This is an office in which a man must put on his war paint.

The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty.