James A. Garfield quotes - page 5

The colonists were struggling not only against the armies of a great nation, but against the settled opinions of mankind; for the world did not then believe that the supreme authority of government could be safely intrusted to the guardianship of the people themselves. (James A. Garfield)
He was intelligent enough to understand from the beginning of the war that the destiny of his race was involved in it. He was intelligent enough to be true to that Union which his educated and traitorous master was endeavoring to destroy. He came to us in the hour of our sorest need, and by his aid, under God, the Republic was saved. View quote
James A. Garfield
It has been said that unsettled questions have no pity for the repose of nations. View quote
James A. Garfield
Fellow-citizens, fellow-soldiers, in this there is the beneficence of eternal justice, and by it we will stand forever. View quote
James A. Garfield
This amendment supplies that defect, and allows Congress to correct the unjust legislation of the States, so far that the law which operates upon one man shall operate equally upon all. Whatever law punishes a white man for a crime shall punish the black man precisely in the same way and to the same degree. Whatever law protects the white man shall afford equal protection to the black man. Whatever means of redress is afforded to one shall be afforded to all. Whatever law allows the white man to testify in court shall allow the man of color to do the same. View quote
James A. Garfield
We will stand by them until the sun of liberty, fixed in the firmament of our Constitution, shall shine with equal ray upon every man, black or white, throughout the Union. View quote
James A. Garfield
The elevation of the negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship is the most important political change we have known since the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. NO thoughtful man can fail to appreciate its beneficent effect upon our institutions and people. View quote
James A. Garfield
For mere vengeance I would do nothing. This nation is too great to look for mere revenge. View quote
James A. Garfield
And now that we have made them free, so long as we live we will stand by these black allies. View quote
James A. Garfield
The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. View quote
James A. Garfield
Promises may not be kept, plighted faith may be broken, and vaunted virtue be only the cunning mask of vice. We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke: but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. (James A. Garfield)
It is the high privilege and sacred duty of those now living to educate their successors and fit them, by intelligence and virtue, for the inheritance which awaits them. In this beneficent work, sections and races should be forgotten and partisanship should be unknown. View quote
James A. Garfield
In all that period of suffering and danger, no Union soldier was ever betrayed by a black man or woman. View quote
James A. Garfield
However, to grant suffrage to the black man in this country is not innovation, but restoration. It is a return to the ancient principles and practices of the fathers. View quote
James A. Garfield
We have seen the white men betray the flag and fight to kill the Union; but in all that long, dreary war we never saw a traitor in a black skin. View quote
James A. Garfield
Tell her I am seriously hurt; how seriously I cannot yet say. View quote
James A. Garfield
Let us not commit ourselves to the absurd and senseless dogma that the color of the skin shall be the basis of suffrage, the talisman of liberty. View quote
James A. Garfield
The emancipated race has already made remarkable progress. With unquestioning devotion to the Union, with a patience and gentleness not born of fear, they have "followed the light as God gave them to see the light." View quote
James A. Garfield
I must do something to keep my thoughts fresh and growing. View quote
James A. Garfield
It is hardly possible God will let us succeed while such enormities are practiced. View quote
James A. Garfield
I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion. (James A. Garfield)
Nothing touches my heart more quickly than a tribute of honor to a great and noble character; but as I sat in my seat and witnessed this demonstration, this assemblage seemed to me a human ocean in tempest. I have seen the sea lashed into fury and tossed into spray, and its grandeur moves the soul of the dullest man; but I remember that it is not the billows, but the calm level of the sea, from which all heights and depths are measured. View quote
James A. Garfield
In the extremity of our distress, we called upon the black man to help us save the Republic; and, amid the very thunders of battle, we made a covenant with him, sealed both with his blood and with ours, and witnessed by Jehovah, that, when the nation was redeemed, he should be free, and share with us its glories and its blessings. View quote
James A. Garfield
I take it that the question of employees is only a question of private and corporate economy, and individuals or companies have the right to buy labor where they can get it cheapest. We have a treaty with the Chinese government which should be religiously kept until its provisions are abrogated by the action of the general Government, and I am not prepared to say that it should be abrogated until our great manufacturing and corporate interests are conserved in the matter of labor. View quote
James A. Garfield
The last act of Democratic domination in this Capitol, eighteen years ago, was striking and dramatic, perhaps heroic. Then the Democratic Party said to the Republicans, '; but the people of this country, refusing to be coerced by threats or violence, voted as they pleased, and lawfully elected Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. View quote
James A. Garfield