Quotes from William McKinley

The Working Man's Creed: "A short day is better than a short dollar" .

I do not prize the word cheap. It is not a word of inspiration. It is the badge of poverty, the signal of distress. Cheap merchandise means cheap men and cheap men mean a cheap country.

We cannot gamble with anything so sacred as money.

By the blessings of heaven I mean to live and die, please God, in the faith of my mother.

Half-heartedness never won a battle.

War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.

The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation.

That's all a man can hope for during his lifetime - to set an example - and when he is dead, to be an inspiration for history.

Our past has gone into history.

Honesty, capacity, and industry are nowhere more indispensable than in public employment.

The American flag has not been planted on foreign soil to acquire more territory but for humanity's sake.

Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously vouchsafe prosperity, happiness, and peace to all our neighbors, and like blessings to all the peoples and powers of the earth

There was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God's grace do the very best we could for them, as our fellowmen for whom Christ also died.

To him was given the duty and responsibility of making that great classic of liberty, the Declaration of Independence, no longer an empty promise, but a glorious fulfillment.

War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed.

Honesty, capacity, and industry are nowhere more indispensable than in public employment.

Strong hearts and helpful hands are needed, and, fortunately, we have them in every part of our beloved country.

The American people, intrenched in freedom at home, take their love for it with them wherever they go...

The more profoundly we study this wonderful book [the Bible], and the more closely we observe its divine precept, the better citizens we will become and the higher will be our destiny as a nation.

The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation.

We cannot always do what is best, but we can do what is practical at the time.

The people of this country want an industrial policy that is for America and Americans.

The more profoundly we study this wonderful book [the Bible], and the more closely we observe its divine precept, the better citizens we will become and the higher will be our destiny as a nation.

Our differences are policies; our agreements, principles.