Carl Schurz

“An impoverished soil, impoverished farmers, and an impoverished country is the inevitable result of abandoning the land for the factory.”

“Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.”

“My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.”

“If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your neighbors.”

“True patriotism is not the noisy acclaim of the masses. It is the quiet resolve of the individual.”

“Great wars are not paid for in wartime, the bill comes later.”

“The Senator from Wisconsin cannot frighten me by exclaiming, 'My country, right or wrong.' In one sense I say so too. My country; and my country is the great American Republic. My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.”

“Let them have that right. Let them have the right to vote. Let them have the right to be voted for. Let them have the right to be their own masters.”

“Nothing is more apt to disturb the functions of the intellect than an irritable temperament.”