John Hay Quotes

The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it.

Dealing with a government with whom mendacity is a science is an extremely difficult matter.

Friends are the sunshine of life.

Speak with the speech of the world; think with the thoughts of the few.

True luck consists not in holding the best of the cards at the table; luckiest is he who knows just when to rise and go home.

Make all good men your well-wishers, and then, in the years' steady sifting, Some of them turn into friends. Friends are the sunshine of life.

There are three species of creatures who when they seem coming are going, when they seem going they come: diplomats, women, and crabs.

I think that saving a little child And bringing him to his own, Is a derned sight better business Than loafing around the throne.

At my door the Pale Horse stands to carry me to unknown lands.

The people will come to their own at last,-God is not mocked forever.

Break not the rose; its fragrance and beauty are surely sufficient, resting contented with these, never a thorn shall you feel.

War is hell and all that, but it has a good deal to recommend it. It wipes out all the small nuisances of peace time.

Maidens! why should you worry in choosing whom you shall marry? Choose whom you may, you will find you have got somebody else.

The use of proverbs is characteristic of an unlettered people. They are invaluable treasures to dunces with good memories.

The best loved man or maid in the town would perish with anguish Could they hear all that their friends say in the course of a day.

Unto each man comes a day when his favorite sins all forsake him, And he complacently thinks he has forsaken his sins.

What is first love worth, except to prepare for a second? What does second love bring? Only regret for the first.

Marriage is a ghastly public confession of a strictly private intention.

Make all good men your well-wishers and then in the years' steady sifting some of them will turn into friends.

In this slipshod age, we need object lessons in language and thought. – Edith Wharton on an address by John Hay

John Hay indicates that dealing with people directly as a holder of political office "requires a stronger heart and a more obedient nervous system than I possess.

Good luck belongs to those who know how and are not afraid." John Hay to President Theodore Roosevelt

Behind those thick glasses (of TR's) was a man who did not blink.

John Hay points to our our history of getting lost in suffering when, "so close together were pain and antidote.

I like to introduce myself, because THEN I can get in all the facts." The usually self-deprecating John Hay on the ironic formality of signing his own commission as Secretary of State.

He had no desire to grandstand for his country or himself.

If he could be hard on kings and cabinets, he was invariably kind to his colleagues.

The Admiral so regrets failure, he cannot THINK of success.

The best-loved man or maid in the town would perish with anguish could they hear all that their friends say in the course of a day.

Because we have only one (life) we go about blundering along him nervous haste.

When we get to Heaven, we can try a monarchy, perhaps." John Hay

In Washington, the venerable were often vulnerable.

He did not so much follow his father's example as his father's vision.

Beaten armies always shout, "TREASON!

I think that saving a little child And bringing him to his own Is a derned sight better business Than loafing around the throne.

True luck consists not in holding the best cards at the table luckiest he who knows just when to rise and go home.

John Hay on Lincoln: "He always worked with things as they were, while never relinquishing the desire to make them better.