Echoes

I have always been fond of the West African proverb "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."

Our patience will achieve more than our force.

Force has no place where there is need of skill.

If you want peace, prepare for war.

Let us speak courteously, deal fairly, and keep ourselves armed and ready.

In war, numbers alone confer no advantage. Do not advance relying on sheer military power.

The best fighter is never angry.

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

Conquering the world on horseback is easy; it is dismounting and governing that is hard.

Right here let me make as vigorous a plea as I know how in favor of saying nothing that we do not mean, and of acting without hesitation up to whatever we say. A good many of you are probably acquainted with the old proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick—you will go far." If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble; and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power.

People must be governed in a manner agreeable to their temper and disposition; and men of free character and spirit must be ruled with, at least, some condescension to this spirit and this character.

You shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God; you shall not have both.

In all my years in business I can recall very few people I have wanted to fire for making mistakes.

Do the thing, and you shall have the power; but they who do not do the thing have not the power.

Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.

Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language. Use the word not as a means of denial or in antithesis, never as a means of evasion.

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

Know how to refuse. One ought not to give way in everything nor to everybody.

It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself.

To borrow a simile from the football field, we believe that men must play fair, but that there must be no shirking, and that the success can only come to the player who hits the line hard.

Silence is a source of great strength.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little.

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few.

Don't let anyone impose on you. Don't be quarrelsome, but stand up for your rights. If you've got to fight, fight hard and well. To my mind, a coward is the only thing meaner than a liar.