Statistics are no substitute for judgment.
—Henry Clay
Topics: Decisions, Facts, Statistics, Judgment
In all the affairs of life, social as well as political, courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest to the grateful and appreciating heart.
—Henry Clay
Topics: Kindness
There is no power like that of true oratory. Caesar controlled men by exciting their fears; Cicero, by captivating their affections and swaying their passions. The influence of the one perished with its author; that of the other continues to this day.
—Henry Clay
A nation’s character is the sum of its splendid deeds; they constitute one common patrimony, the nation’s inheritance. They awe foreign powers, they arouse and animate our own people.
—Henry Clay
Topics: Action
In a scheme of policy which is devised for a nation, we should not limit our views to its operation during a single year, or even for a short term of years. We should look at its operation for a considerable time, and in war as well as in peace.
—Henry Clay
Yes, sir, from Constantinople, or from the Brazils; from Turk or christian; from black or white; from the dey of Algiers or the bey of Tunis; from the devil himself, if he wore a crown, we should receive a minister.
—Henry Clay
Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.
—Henry Clay
Topics: Character
Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.
—Henry Clay
I would rather be right than be president.
—Henry Clay
Topics: Integrity
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