What I Think (1956), p. 54 http://books.google.com/books?id=3OchAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Fill+the+moral+vacuum+the+rational+vacuum+we+must+reconvert+a+population+soaked+in+the+spirit+of+materialism+to+the+spirit+of+humanism+we+must+or+bit+by+bit+we+too+will%22&pg=PA54#v=onepage
Adlai Stevenson:
131
quotes
4
likes
Adlai Stevenson Quotes
Introducing John F. Kennedy in 1960, as quoted in Adlai Stevenson and The World: The Life of Adlai E. Stevenson (1977) by John Bartlow Martin, p. 549
“Ignorance is stubborn and prejudice dies hard.”
According to "The Home Book of American Quotations" (1967), by Bruce Bohle, Stevenson said this in an address to the United Nations on October 1, 1963
“Some war hero is always getting in my way.”
Attributed to Stevenson by Harry Ashmore of the Arkansas Gazette and entered by William Fulbright in the Congressional Record for July 22, 1965. According to Ashmore, Stevenson said this when he was blocked by a motorcade for Charles de Gaulle
"A whistle-stop: Ypsilanti, Michigan," http://books.google.com/books?id=kHt3AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Whenever+I+hear+one+of+these+old+guard+leaders+on+the+other+side+talking+about+cutting+taxes+when+he+knows+it+means+weakening+the+nation+I+always+think+of+that+story+about+the+tired+old+capitalist+who+was+driving+alone+in+his+car+one+day+and+finally+he+said+James+drive+over+the+bluff+I+want+to+commit%22&pg=PA210#v=onpage Major Campaign Speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson, 1952, p. 210 (1953)
Speeches of Adlai Ewing Stevenson (1952), p. 121
Speech, Richmond, Virginia (20 September 1952)
Opening sentence of remarks to a Baptist convention in Texas during 1952 Presidential campaign. In his introduction the host had said that Stevenson had been asked to speak "just as a courtesy, because Dr. Norman Vincent Peale has already instructed us to vote for your opponent." From Humor in the White House: The Wit of Five American Presidents (2001) by Arthur A. Sloane. <!-- McFarland and Company -->
Speech in Fort Dodge, Iowa (5 October 1952), as quoted in The Wit and Wisdom of Adlai Stevenson (1965) compiled by by Edward Hanna and Henry H. Hicks, p. 33
“For my part I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance.”
Response to a heckler asking him to state his beliefs, as quoted in TIME magazine (1 November 1963)
“We mean by "politics" the people's business — the most important business there is.”
Speech in Chicago, Illinois (19 November 1955)
“Some people approach every problem with an open mouth.”
As quoted in The Wordsworth Dictionary of Quotations (1998) by Connie Robertson.
Similar statements by others:
Mr. Hogg observed facetiously that interpreters were rather like politicians: they are people who approach every problem with an open mouth.
Quintin Hogg, as quoted in Annual Review of United Nations Affairs (1949) by Clyde Eagleton, p. 136.
Modern diplomats approach every problem with an open mouth.
Arthur J. Goldberg, as quoted in Affronts, Insults and Indignities (1975) by Morris Mandel
“True Patriotism, it seems to me, is based on tolerance and a large measure of humility.”
Speech to the American Legion convention, New York City (27 August 1952); as quoted in "Democratic Candidate Adlai Stevenson Defines the Nature of Patriotism" in Lend Me Your Ears : Great Speeches In History (2004) by William Safire, p. 80
“Those who corrupt the public mind are just as evil as those who steal from the public purse.”
Speeches of Adlai Ewing Stevenson (1952), p. 99
“An Independent is someone who wants to take the politics out of politics.”
As quoted in The Quotable Politician (2003) by William B. Whitman, p. 36
Speech to the Los Angeles Town Club, Los Angeles, California (11 September 1952); Speeches of Adlai Stevenson (1952), p. 31
The 1957 Ford Almanac has the quote "It's too late to read the handwriting on the wall when your back's up against it", attributed to "Anon." The quote appeared in several variations afterwards, for instance in an essay by Meredith Thring in Nature Magazine in 1965. It began to be attributed without context to Stevenson in the 1970s. According to "Adlai Stevenson: His Life and Legacy" by Porter McKeever (p. 566), Stevenson made this remark "with increasing frequency in the final months of his life"; but Stevenson died in 1965 and this book does not give a precise reference. Absent better attestation, Stevenson either used the quote from elsewhere or the association with Stevenson is a mistake.
Misattributed
As quoted in The New York Times (14 August 1964)
“The human race has improved everything but the human race.”
In "Wages are Going Lower!" (1951), William Joseph Baxter wrote, "One might almost say that the human race seems to have improved everything except people." Variations of this quote have appeared since both with and without attribution to Adlai Stevenson, but no documented connection to Stevenson is known.
Misattributed
As quoted in Portrait — Adlai E. Stevenson : Politician, Diplomat, Friend (1965) by Alden Whitman
Eulogizing Winston Churchill, Washington, D.C. (28 January 1965); as quoted in "Stevenson Delivers Eulogy to Churchill; 'Simple Faith in God' Cited" https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZmQwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mWwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4314%2C3973257 by the Associated Press, in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (29 January 1965); reproduced in Adlai Stevenson (1966) by Lillian Ross, p. 47
As quoted in The Political Thought of Adlai E. Stevenson (1955) by William Robert Latimer, p. 89
“Saskatchewan is much like Texas — except it's more friendly to the United States.”
This was attributed to Stevenson without reference in 1001 Greatest Things Ever Said About Texas (2006) by Donna Ingham, p. 92. It was also attributed without reference in "Reporters' Notebook", The Buffalo News, September 24, 1992. No closer connection to Stevenson has been found.
Disputed
As quoted in My Brother Adlai (1956) by Elizabeth Stevenson Ives and Hildegarde Dolson
Speech at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (8 October 1952)
Acceptance speech, Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois (26 July 1952)
“A politician is a statesman who approaches every question with an open mouth.”
Quoted in The Fine Art of Political Wit by Leon Harris (1964)
Speech in Los Angeles California (27 October 1956), as quoted in The New America (1971), edited by Seymour E. Harris, John B. Martin, and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., p. 249
“He who slings mud generally loses ground.”
Statement quoted in news summaries (11 January 1954); as quoted in Best Quotes of '54, '55, '56 (1957) edited by James Beasley Simpson, p. 58
“Never run against a war hero.”
Response when asked if he had any advice to give to a young politician, quoted in "History Remembers…Adlai Stevenson" by Maureen Zebian in The Epoch Times (4 November 2004) http://en.epochtimes.com/news/4-11-4/24153.html
Speech to the American Legion convention, New York City (27 August 1952); as quoted in "Democratic Candidate Adlai Stevenson Defines the Nature of Patriotism" in Lend Me Your Ears : Great Speeches In History (2004) by William Safire, p. 81
Address to the AFL Convention in New York City, transcribed in the New York Times, September 23, 1952. In context, Stevenson was saying that the Republicans were humorless, in contrast to his own sense of humor. This quote resembles the unsourced and confusing version, "I refuse to personally criticize President Eisenhower, I will not submit to the Republican concept of gravity."
Quoted in "Major Campaign Speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson" (1952), Random House. Republished in the New York Times, "Books of the Times", by Charles Poore, April 20, 1953, p. 23
Speech (22 September 1952), reported in Report of Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor, Vol. 71 (1952)
“Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them.”
Speech in Denver, Colorado (5 September 1952)
“There was a time when a fool and his money were soon parted, but now it happens to everybody.”
As quoted in The Stevenson Wit (1965) edited by Bill Adler
“Communism is the corruption of a dream of justice.”
Speech in Urbana, Illinois (1951); as quoted in Adlai's Almanac: The Wit and Wisdom of Stevenson of Illinois (1952), p. 20
“A beauty is a woman you notice; a charmer is one who notices you.”
As quoted in The Stevenson Wit (1965) edited by Bill Adler
Radio address (11 April 1955); as quoted in The World's Great Speeches (1999) edited by Lewis Copeland, Lawrence W. Lamm, and Stephen J. McKenna
“There is no evil in the atom, only in men's souls.”
Speech in Hartford, Connecticut (18 September 1952)
Comparing Richard Nixon to Alben Barkley during the 1952 presidential race, as quoted in Richard Nixon: A Political and Personal Portrait (1959) by Earl Mazo, Chapter 7
Foreword to booklet on interracial relations prepared by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, as quoted in The New York Times (22 June 1964)
A Call to Greatness (1954), p. 99
On being a lawyer, as quoted by Claire Birge in The Stevensons : A Biography of an American Family (1997) by Jean H. Baker, p. 262
As quoted in Morrow's International Dictionary of Contemporary Quotations (1982) by Jonathon Green
“The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum.”
As quoted in The New York Times (19 January 1962)
“A diplomat's life is made up of three ingredients: protocol, Geritol and alcohol.”
As quoted in The New York Times Magazine (7 February 1965)
Referring to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, in a speech in Hartford, Connecticut (25 February 1956)
