
Vol. 3, Ch. XV, The Americans
Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative (1891)
Source: The Lady in the Lake
Vol. 3, Ch. XV, The Americans
Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative (1891)
“We must demand the highest order of integrity and ability in our public men”
1900s, The Strenuous Life: Essays and Addresses (1900), The Strenuous Life
Context: Let us, as we value our own self-respect, face the responsibilities with proper seriousness, courage, and high resolve. We must demand the highest order of integrity and ability in our public men who are to grapple with these new problems. We must hold to a rigid accountability those public servants who show unfaithfulness to the interests of the nation or inability to rise to the high level of the new demands upon our strength and our resources. Of course we must remember not to judge any public servant by any one act, and especially should we beware of attacking the men who are merely the occasions and not the causes of disaster.
Problems of Estimating Military Power (August 1966)
“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.”
Letter to Major-General Robert Howe (17 August 1779), published in "The Writings of George Washington": 1778-1779, edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford (1890)
Paraphrased variants:
Few men have the virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
Few men have virtue enough to withstand the highest bidder
1770s
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 208.
“We ask to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike on all men.”
Lincoln Hall Speech (1879)
Context: I know that my race must change. We cannot hold our own with the white men as we are. We only ask an even chance to live as other men live. We ask to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike on all men. If an Indian breaks the law, punish him by the law. If a white man breaks the law, punish him also.
Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 180
X-Press Magazine, Australia, September 2000
Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Reflections (1750), Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections