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William Jennings Bryan

38 quotes

“Success is brought by continued labor and continued watchfulness. We must struggle on, not for one moment hesitate, nor take one backward step.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1881 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Illinois College Valedictory (1881)
“A man who murders another shortens by a few brief years the life of a human being; but he who votes to increase the burden of debts upon the people of the United States assumes a graver responsibility.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1893 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First Speech Against Unconditional Repeal (9 February 1893)
“The poor man who takes property by force is called a thief, but the creditor who can by legislation make a debtor pay a dollar twice as large as he borrowed is lauded as the friend of a sound currency. The man who wants the people to destroy the Government is an anarchist, but the man who wants the Government to destroy the people is a patriot.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1893 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Principal Speech Against Unconditional Repeal (16 August 1893)
“Next to the ministry I know of no more noble profession than the law. The object aimed at is justice, equal and exact, and if it does not reach that end at once it is because the stream is diverted by selfishness or checked by ignorance. Its principles ennoble and its practice elevates.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1896 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Law and the Gospel" (1896)
“You cannot judge a man's life by the success of a moment, by the victory of an hour, or even by the results of a year. You must view his life as a whole. You must stand where you can see the man as he treads the entire path that leads from the cradle to the grave — now crossing the plain, now climbing the steeps, now passing through pleasant fields, now wending his way with difficulty between rugged rocks — tempted, tried, tested, triumphant.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1896 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Law and the Gospel" (1896)
“Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: America's Mission", speech delivered by the leader of the Democratic Party at the Washington Day banquet given by the Virginia Democratic Association at Washington, D.C., (22 February 1899), as published in The Book of …
“Dear me, think of it, niggers speaking French!”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bryan's response to learning about Haiti while serving as Secretary of State (1912), as quoted in The Little Nation That Tests Our Loyalty to Democracy : Haiti: America’s vision of the country is too heavily reliant on …
“Why, these men would destroy the Bible on evidence that would not convict a habitual criminal of a misdemeanor. They found a tooth in a sand pit in Nebraska with no other bones about it, and from that one tooth decided that it was the remains of the missing link. They have queer ideas about age too. They find a fossil and when they are asked how old it is they say they can't tell without knowing what rock it was in, and when they are asked how old the rock is they say they can't tell unless they know how old the fossil is.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Osborn States the Case For Evolution", in The New York Times (12 Jul 1925), p. XX1; the tooth was misidentified as anthropoid by Osborn, who over-zealously proposed Nebraska Man in 1922; the tooth was shor…
“Appearance too often takes the place of reality — the stamp of the coin is there, and the glitter of the gold, but, after all, it is but a worthless wash. Sham is carried into every department of life, and we are being corrupted by show and surface. We are too apt to judge people by what they have, rather than by what they are; we have too few Hamlets who are bold enough to proclaim, "I know not seem!”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we delight in gossip, and are not content unless each neighbor is laid upon the dissecting table, we form a character unenviable indeed, and must be willing to bear the contempt of all the truly good, while we roll our bit of scandal as a sweet morsel under the tongue.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But if each day we gather some new truths, plant ourselves more firmly upon principles which are eternal, guard every thought and action, that it may be pure, and conform our lives more nearly to that Perfect Model, we shall form a character that will be a fit background on which to paint the noblest deeds and the grandest intellectual and moral achievements; a character that cannot be concealed, but which will bring success in this life and form the best preparation for that which is beyond.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Character is the entity, the individuality of the person, shining from every window of the soul, either as a beam of purity, or as a clouded ray that betrays the impurity within. The contest between light and darkness, right and wrong, goes on; day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, our characters are being formed, and this is the all-important question which comes to us in accents ever growing fainter as we journey from the cradle to the grave, "Shall those characters be good or bad?”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is not a contest between persons. The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. I come to speak to you in defence of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty—the cause of humanity.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We object to bringing this question down to the level of persons. The individual is but an atom; he is born, he acts, he dies; but principles are eternal; and this has been a contest over a principle.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests up on them.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard; we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The democrat says that society is built from the bottom and the republican thinks that society is suspended from the top. The democrat says, make the masses prosperous and then all who rest upon them will share in the prosperity, but the republicans say, make the well to do prosperous and their prosperity will leak through on those below.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Commoner Condensed BY William Jennings Bryan VOLUME VI, Published by THE HENNEBERRY COMPANY Chicago, 1907, P.353
“The first objection to Darwinism is that it is only a guess and was never anything more. It is called a “hypothesis,” but the word “hypothesis,” though euphonioous, dignified and high-sounding, is merely a scientific synonym for the old-fashioned word “guess.” If Darwin had advanced his views as a guess they would not have survived for a year, but they have floated for half a century, buoyed up by the inflated word “hypothesis.” When it is understood that “hypothesis” means “guess,” people will inspect it more carefully before accepting it.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The real question is, Did God use evolution as His plan? If it could be shown that man, instead of being made in the image of God, is a development of beasts we would have to accept it, regardless of its effort, for truth is truth and must prevail. But when there is no proof we have a right to consider the effect of the acceptance of an unsupported hypothesis.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have been so satisfied with the Christian religion that I have spent no time trying to find arguments against it. … I am not afraid now that you will show me any. I feel that I have enough information to live and die by.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If they believe it, they go back to scoff at the religion of their parents.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On evolution, in transcript of the fifth day's proceedings (16 Jul 1925) in The World's Most Famous Court Trial: Tennessee Evolution Case: a Complete Stenographic Report of the Famous Court Test of the Tennessee Anti-Ev…
“I can make affirmation; I can say "So help me God, I will tell the truth.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have studied the Bible for about 50 years, or sometime more than that, but, of course, I have studied it more as I have become older than when I was but a boy. … I believe everything in the Bible should be accepted as it is given there: some of the Bible is given illustratively. For instance: "Ye are the salt of the earth." I would not insist that man was actually salt, or that he had flesh of salt, but it is used in the sense of salt as saving God's people.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I read that a "big fish" swallowed Jonah — it does not say whale. That is my recollection of it. A big fish, and I believe it, and I believe in a God who can make a whale and can make a man and make both what He pleases. … One miracle is just as easy to believe as another. … It is hard to believe for you, but easy for me. A miracle is a thing performed beyond what man can perform. When you get within the realm of miracles; and it is just as easy to believe the miracle of Jonah as any other miracle in the Bible.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These gentlemen have not had much chance — they did not come here to try this case. They came here to try revealed religion. I am here to defend it and they can ask me any question they please.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Your Honor, I think I can shorten this testimony. The only purpose Mr. Darrow has is to slur at the Bible, but I will answer his question. I will answer it all at once, and I have no objection in the world. I want the world to know that this man, who does not believe in a God, is trying to use a court in Tennessee to slur at it, and while it will require time, I am willing to take it.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Science is a magnificent force, but it is not a teacher of morals. It can perfect machinery, but it adds no moral restraints to protect society from the misuse of the machine. It can also build gigantic intellectual ships, but it constructs no moral rudders for the control of storm tossed human vessel. It not only fails to supply the spiritual element needed but some of its unproven hypotheses rob the ship of its compass and thus endangers its cargo.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No government can long endure unless its citizens are willing to make some sacrifice for its existence. In this, our land, we are called upon to give but little in return for the advantages which we receive. Shall we give that little grudgingly? Our definition of patriotism is often too narrow. Shall the lover of his country measure his loyalty only by his service as a soldier? No! Patriotism calls for the faithful and conscientious performance of all of the duties of citizenship, in small matters as well as great, at home as well as upon the tented field. There is no more menacing feature in these modern times than the disinclination of what are called the better classes to assume the burdens of citizenship. If we desire to preserve to future generations the purity of our courts and the freedom of our people, we must lose no opportunity to impress upon our citizens the fact that above all pleasure, above all convenience, above all business, they must place their duty to their government; for a good government doubles every joy and a bad government multiplies every sorrow. Times change but principles endure. The jury has protected us from the abuse of power. While human government exists the tendency to abuse power will remain. This system, coming down from former generations crowned with the honors of age, is today and for the future our hope. Let us correct its defects with kindly hands, let us purge it of its imperfections and it will be, as in the past, the bulwark of our liberties.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1890 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Jury System", delivered in response to a toast at a bar association banquet in Lincoln, Nebraska (February 1890)
“And who can suffer injury by just taxation, impartial laws and the application of the Jeffersonian doctrine of equal rights to all and special privileges to none? Only those whose accumulations are stained with dishonesty and whose immoral methods have given them a distorted view of business, society and government. Accumulating by conscious frauds more money than they can use upon themselves, wisely distribute or safely leave to their children, these denounce as public enemies all who question their methods or throw a light upon their crimes. Plutocracy is abhorrent to a republic; it is more despotic than monarchy, more heartless than aristocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. It preys upon the nation in time of peace and conspires against it in the hour of its calamity. Conscienceless, compassionless and devoid of wisdom, it enervates its votaries while it impoverishes its victims. It is already sapping the strength of the nation, vulgarizing social life and making a mockery of morals. The time is ripe for the overthrow of this giant wrong. In the name of the counting-rooms which it has denied; in the name of business honor which it has polluted; in the name of the home which it has despoiled; in the name of religion which it has disgraced; in the name of the people whom it has opprest, let us make our appeal to the awakened conscience of the nation.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address at Madison Square Garden, New York (30 August 1906), at a reception welcoming Bryan on his return from a year's trip around the world, published in Speeches of William Jennings Bryan, Funk & Wagnalls, (1909), p.…
“The democratic party does not expect to destroy poverty, because poverty can never be destroyed until the members of the human race so nearly approach perfection in thought, and act, that they will not incur the penalties prescribed for the violation of natural laws. The democratic party is protesting against those things which interfere with the natural distribution of rewards and punishments. It is protesting against legislation which gathers from millions in order to give an undeserved advantage to hundreds, or at most, thousands. The principles of the party, whether applied to the tariff question, the money question, the trust question, the question of imperialism or to any other question, are intended to secure equal rights to all and to deny special privileges to any. Equality in rights does not mean equality in possessions or equality in enjoyment. A man may have a right to the proceeds of his toil, but if he does not toil there will be no proceeds, or if he toils without intelligence to direct his toil the proceeds will be less than if he toils with intelligence. Every man has a right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," but he can make his life worthless, he can be indifferent to his liberty, and he can so act as to secure misery instead of happiness. Human rights are equal before the law, but the rewards ought to be in proportion to virtue, to industry and to discretion.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1902 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Commoner Condensed BY William Jennings Bryan, the Abbey Press, 1902, P.160
“Great Britain has recently experienced one of the greatest political revolutions she has ever known. The conservative party, with Mr. Balfour, one of the ablest of modern scholars, at its head, and with Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, a powerful orator and a forceful political leader, as its most conspicuous champion, had won a sweeping victory after the Boer war, and this victory, following a long lease of power, led the Conservatives to believe themselves invincible. They assumed, as parties made confident by success often do, that they are indispensable to the nation and paid but little attention to the warnings and threats of the Liberals. One mistake after another, however, alienated the voters and the special elections two years ago began to show a falling off in the Conservative strength, and when the general election was held last fall the Liberals rolled up a majority of something like two hundred in the House of Commons. A new ministry was formed from among the ablest men of the party — a ministry of radical and progressive men seldom equaled in moral purpose and intellectual strength.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1904 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Old World and its Ways By Bryan, William Jennings (1904), P.435: This excerpt from the aforementioned study is Bryan's reflection on the coming to power of the Liberal government, 1905–1915 in the United Kingdom fol…
“Industrial questions are being given consideration in Sweden; laws concerning child labor have been enacted, accident insurance has been provided, and an old age pension is being discussed. Attention is also being given to the housing problem in the cities, to farm allotments and to the establishment of labor bureaus and boards of arbitration. The Gothenburg license system is in operation in Sweden, under which the sale of liquor, where the sale is not entirely prohibited, is in the hands of semi-official corporations. Whether this system is responsible for it or not may be open to question, but statistics show that there has been a large decrease in the sale of beverages containing a high percentage of alcohol.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1904 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Old World and its Ways By Bryan, William Jennings (1904), P.424: This excerpt from the aforementioned study is Bryan's reflection on social developments in Sweden at that time.
“Those who believe that the right is sure of ultimate triumph will watch the struggle in Germany and profit by the lessons taught. I am inclined to believe that political considerations are so mingled with economic theories that it is difficult as yet to know just what proportion of the three million socialist voters believe in "the government ownership and operation of all the means of production and distribution." The old age pension act was given as a sop to the socialists, but it strengthened rather than weakened their contentions and their party. It remains to be seen whether the new concessions which they seem likely to secure will still further augment their strength. The Germans are a studious and a thoughtful people and just now they are absorbed in the consideration of the aims and methods of the socialist movement (mingled with a greater or less amount of governmental reform), and the world awaits their verdict with deep interest.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) first seen 1904 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Old World and its Ways By Bryan, William Jennings (1904), P.541: This excerpt from the aforementioned study is Bryan's reflection on socialism in Germany at that time.
“The only part of evolution in which any considerable interest is felt is evolution applied to man. A hypothesis in regard to the rocks and plant life does not affect the philosophy upon which one's life is built. Evolution applied to fish, birds and beasts would not materially affect man's view of his own responsibilities except as the acceptance of an unsupported hypothesis as to these would be used to support a similar hypothesis as to man. The evolution that is harmful— distinctly so — is the evolution that destroys man’s family tree as taught by the Bible and makes him a descendant of the lower forms of life. This … is a very vital matter.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The reason I am answering is not for the benefit of the superior court. It is to keep these gentlemen from saying I was afraid to meet them and let them question me, and I want the Christian world to know that any atheist, agnostic, unbeliever, can question me anytime as to my belief in God, and I will answer him. … Your honor, they have not asked a question legally and the only reason they have asked any question is for the purpose, as the question about Jonah was asked, for a chance to give this agnostic an opportunity to criticize a believer in the world of God; and I answered the question in order to shut his mouth so that he cannot go out and tell his atheistic friends that I would not answer his questions. That is the only reason, no more reason in the world.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you will take the second chapter — let me have the book. [Reaches for a Bible.] The fourth verse of the second chapter says: "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth, when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens," the word day there in the very next chapter is used to describe a period. I do not see that there is any necessity for construing the words, "the evening and the morning," as meaning necessarily a 24-hour day, "in the day when the Lord made the heaven and the earth."… I think it would be just as easy for the kind of God we believe in to make the earth in six days as in six years or in 6 million years or in 600 million years. I do not think it important whether we believe one or the other. … My impression is they were periods, but I would not attempt to argue against anybody who wanted to believe in literal days.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In war, science has proven itself an evil genius; it has made war more terrible than it ever was before. Man used to be content to slaughter his fellowmen on a single plane — the earth's surface. Science has taught him to go down into the water and shoot up from below and to go up into the clouds and shoot down from above, thus making the battlefield three times a bloody as it was before; but science does not teach brotherly love. Science has made war so hellish that civilization was about to commit suicide; and now we are told that newly discovered instruments of destruction will make the cruelties of the late war seem trivial in comparison with the cruelties of wars that may come in the future.”
William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) said by 1925 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source