Standing on the shoulders of the Past, Man stands also on the shoulders of every science discovered, every art advanced, every truth declared.

There is no height of culture or of virtue--if virtue itself be not the highest culture--which may not be reached.

One obstacle is overcome only to find another, which is overcome, and then another also, in the ascending scale of human improvement.

Not at once; not by any sudden conquest; not in the lifetime of any individual man; not in any way which does not recognize Nature as co-worker.

It is by constant, incessant, unceasing activity in conformity with law that Nature works; and so in these world-subduing operations Man can be successful only in harmony with Nature.

The peaceful conquest will proceed, and every day must contribute its fruits.

To help in this work it is not necessary to be emperor or king.

Everybody can do something, for to everybody is given something to do; and it is by this accumulation of activities, by this succession of atoms, that the result is accomplished.

I use trivial illustrations, when I remind you that the coral-reef on which navies are wrecked is the work of the multitudinous insect,--that the unyielding stone is worn away by drops; but this is the law of Nature, under which no…

Not a ripple stirred by the passing breeze or by the freighted ship cleaving the sea, which is not prolonged to a thousand shores, leaving behind an endless progeny, so long as ocean endures.

Not a wave of air set in motion by the human voice, which is not prolonged likewise into unknown space.

Not a thing done, not a word said, which does not help or hinder the grand, the beautiful, the holy consummation.

God forbid that our nation should send through all time that defiance of human nature which is found in Caste!

Because the world inclines to those who have, therefore must we study to serve those who have not, that we may counteract the worldly tendency.

Give to the African only his due, and straightway the promised abundance will follow.

The best interests of our country and the best interests of mankind are involved in the answer.

Let Caste be trampled out, and there will be a triumph which will make this Republic more than ever an example.

Above all, Africa will feel it; and the surpassing duty which Civilization owes to this whole continent, where man has so long degraded his fellow-man, will begin to be discharged, while the voice of the Great Shepherd is heard among its…

It is important for our domestic peace, not to speak of our good name as a Republic, that this question should be settled.

How often have I said in other places that nothing can be settled which is not right!

And now I say that there can be no settlement here except in harmony with our declared principles and with universal truth.

Haply for I am black,” said Othello; “Haply for I am yellow,” repeats the Chinese: all of which may be ground for personal like or dislike, but not for any denial of rights, or any exclusion from that equal copartnership which is the…

Here, as always, the highest safety is in doing right.

Justice is ever practical, ever politic; it is the best practice, the best policy.

Whatever reason shows to be just cannot, when reduced to practice, produce other than good.