Woodrow Wilson

Statesmanship United States 1856 – 1924 70 quotes

President who advocated for self-determination and internationalism post-WWI.

Quotes by Woodrow Wilson

The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty.

War Message to Congress 1917

We are to be an instrument in the hands of God to see that liberty is made secure for mankind.

War Message to Congress 1917

No nation is fit to sit in judgment upon any other nation.

War Message to Congress 1917

The right is more precious than peace.

Address to a Joint Session of Congress 1915

The highest and best form of efficiency is the spontaneous cooperation of a free people.

Speech at the National Democratic Convention 1912

Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of the government. The history of liberty is a history of resistance.

Speech at the National Democratic Convention 1912

The object of government is the happiness of the people.

Speech at the National Democratic Convention 1912

The only way to treat a problem is to face it, and the only way to face it is to understand it.

Speech at the National Democratic Convention 1912

We are not here merely to make a living. We are here to enrich the world, and we impoverish ourselves if we forget the errand.

First Inaugural Address 1913

The great curse of mankind is the lack of imagination.

First Inaugural Address 1913

The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it.

Speech at the National Democratic Convention 1912

The only thing that makes a man a man is his thinking.

Speech at the National Democratic Convention 1912

The truth is that we are all caught in a great economic system which is heartless.

Speech at the National Democratic Convention 1912

The man who is bigger than his job is the man who is going to get ahead.

Speech at the National Democratic Convention 1912

The great game of politics is to make the people believe that they are governing themselves.

Speech at the National Democratic Convention 1912

The only way to have a friend is to be one.

Speech at the National Democratic Convention 1912

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement.

Speech 1916

I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow.

Speech 1909

A conservative is a man who just sits and thinks, mostly sits.

Interview 1912

Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government.

Speech 1917