William McKinley Quotes & Sayings

The liberty to make our laws does not give us the freedom nor the license to break our laws! — William McKinley

The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation. — William McKinley

I have already transmitted to Congress the report of the naval court of inquiry on the destruction of the battleship Maine in the harbor of Havana during the night of the fifteenth of February. The destruction of that noble vessel has filled the national heart with inexpressible horror. Two hundred and fifty-eight brave sailors and marines and two officers of our Navy, reposing in the fancied security of a friendly harbor, have been hurled to death, grief and want brought to their homes and sorrow to the nation. — William McKinley

The free man cannot be long an ignorant man. — William McKinley

Unlike any other nation, here the people rule, and their will is the supreme law. It is sometimes sneeringly said by those who do not like free government, that here we count heads. True, heads are counted, but brains also ... — William McKinley

The path of progress is seldom smooth. New things are often found hard to do. Our fathers found them so. We find them so. But are we not made better for the effort and scarifice? — William McKinley

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

The army of Grant and the army of Lee are together. They are one now in faith, in hope, in fraternity, in purpose, and in an invincible patriotism. And, therefore, the country is in no danger. In justice strong, in peace secure, and in devotion to the flag all one. — William McKinley

Half-heartedness never won a battle. — William McKinley

I went down on my knees and prayed to Almighty God for light and guidance and one night late it came to me this way. We could not leave (the Philippines) to themselves-they were unfit for self-government-and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain's was. There was nothing left for us to do but take them all and educate the Filipinos, and uplift and Christianize them. — William McKinley

The best way for the Government to maintain its credit is to pay as it goes-not by resorting to loans, but by keeping out of debt-through an adequate income secured by a system of taxation, external or internal, or both. — William McKinley

What in the world had Grover Cleveland done? Will you tell me? You give it up? I have been looking for six weeks for a Democrat who could tell me what Cleveland has done for the good of his country and for the benefit of the people, but I have not found him ... He says himself ... that two-thirds of his time has been uselessly spent with Democrats who want office ... Now he has been so occupied in that way that he has not done anything else. — William McKinley

Let us ever remember that our interest is in concord, not in conflict; and that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of war. — William McKinley

Without competition we would be clinging to the clumsy antiquated processes of farming and manufacture and the methods of business of long ago, and the twentieth would be no further advanced than the eighteenth century. — William McKinley

Cuba ought to be free and independent, and the government should be turned over to the Cuban people. — William McKinley

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

Finally it should be the earnest wish and paramount aim of the military administration to win the confidence, respect, and affection of the inhabitants of the Philippines by assuring them in every possible way that full measure of individual rights and liberties which is the heritage of free peoples, and by proving to them that the mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation substituting the mild sway of justice and right for arbitrary rule. — William McKinley

We cannot gamble with anything so sacred as money. — William McKinley

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

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 — William McKinley

We need Hawaii just as much and a good deal more than we did California. It is Manifest Destiny. — William McKinley

I have never been in doubt since I was old enough to think intelligently that I would someday be made president. — William McKinley

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

In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest. — William McKinley

Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. — William McKinley

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

The most popular systems are those that apply a disciplined systematic technique, .. The hardest part for investors is finding a system that fits their lifestyle, and that is a critically important component. — William McKinley

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

Our past has gone into history. — William McKinley

Our faith teaches that there is no safer reliance than upon the God of our fathers who has so singularly favored the American people in every national trial and who will not forsake us so long as we obey His commandments and walk humbly in His footsteps — William McKinley

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

We go to war only to make peace. We never went to war with any other design. We carry the national conscience wherever we go. — William McKinley

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

I am a tariff man, standing on a tariff platform. — William McKinley

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. — William McKinley

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. — William McKinley

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

Our differences are policies; our agreements, principles. — William McKinley