James A. Garfield

Promises may not be kept, plighted faith may be broken, and vaunted virtue be only the cunning mask of vice. We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke: but we do know they summed up and perfected, …

I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion.

If hard work is not another name for talent, it is the best possible substitute for it.

I am trying to do two things: dare to be a radical and not be a fool, which, if I may judge by the exhibitions around me, is a matter of no small difficulty.

If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should not grow old.

For mere vengeance I would do nothing. This nation is too great to look for mere revenge. But for security of the future I would do every thing.

We do not even inquire whether a black man is a rebel in arms, or not, if he is black, be he friend or foe, he is thought best kept at a distance. It is hardly possible God will let us succeed while such enormities are practiced.

The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word.

I mean to make myself a man, and if I succeed in that, I shall succeed in everything else.

I believe in God, and I trust myself in His hands.

The worst days of darkness through which I have ever passed have been greatly alleviated by throwing myself with all my energy into some work relating to others.

Poverty is uncomfortable, as I can testify; but nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and compelled to sink or swim for himself.

Be fit for more than the thing you are now doing. Let everyone know that you have a reserve in yourself,— that you have more power than you are now using. If you are not too large for the place you occupy, you are too small for it.

I would rather be beaten in Right than succeed in Wrong.