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

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

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.

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.

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

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

..while I was happy enough to pray to any god, knowing that they were simply different faces created by men, of one indivisible truth.

Perhaps Choices spring up when history makes way for them. Perhaps they will grow, like legends upon dead conquerors.

Out, damned spot! out, I say!

But to be the best, you must face the best. And to overcome your fear, you must deal with the best.

We learn from the things we suffer.

Don't become a seeker of success. Become a person of value.

Pride is the great enemy of unity

The function and responsibility of the President is to set before the American people the unfinished business, the things we must do if we are going to succeed as a nation.

Love is too prone to trust. Would I could think My charges false and all too rashly made.

I was in the movies. I danced, I sang, I learned to work in front of a camera. It was like being in a repertory company.