Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder. I mean of the character and conduct of their rulers.
Character is the only secure foundation of the state.
The fact that a man is a newspaper reporter is evidence of some flaw of character. If you will think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself. Character is a by-product, and any man who devotes himself to its cultivation in his own case will become a selfish prig. Americanism is a question of principle, of purpose, of idealism, of character. Arguing against a large lower house in a debate at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, PA, 1787.