John Taliaferro Quotes

In this slipshod age, we need object lessons in language and thought. – Edith Wharton on an address by John Hay

Behind those thick glasses (of TR's) was a man who did not blink.

When we get to Heaven, we can try a monarchy, perhaps." John Hay

In Washington, the venerable were often vulnerable.

He had no desire to grandstand for his country or himself.

John Hay points to our our history of getting lost in suffering when, "so close together were pain and antidote.

I like to introduce myself, because THEN I can get in all the facts." The usually self-deprecating John Hay on the ironic formality of signing his own commission as Secretary of State.

Because we have only one (life) we go about blundering along him nervous haste.

John Hay on Lincoln: "He always worked with things as they were, while never relinquishing the desire to make them better.

Good luck belongs to those who know how and are not afraid." John Hay to President Theodore Roosevelt

If he could be hard on kings and cabinets, he was invariably kind to his colleagues.

John Hay indicates that dealing with people directly as a holder of political office "requires a stronger heart and a more obedient nervous system than I possess.

The author observes that the friendship of John Hay and Charles Francis Adams benefited from a physical distance that required correspondence, meaning that feelings only implied in person had to be explicitly expressed.

Beaten armies always shout, "TREASON!

Henry Adams observes that John Hay has the ability to take the world as a whole rather than pulling it to pieces in criticism. He also observes that, in the routine of a stressful job, this perspective is challenged

The Admiral so regrets failure, he cannot THINK of success.

He did not so much follow his father's example as his father's vision.