Lincoln Steffens Quotes

Quotes about:

• In all cities, the better classes - the business men - are the sources of corruption, but they are so rarely pursued and caught that we do not fully realize whence the trouble comes.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Men, Class, Cities

  Lincoln Steffens (2012). “The Shame of the Cities”, p.40, Courier Corporation

  59 Copy quote

• Power is what men seek, and any group that gets it will abuse it. It is the same story.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Men, Abuse, Groups

  36 Copy quote

• The misgovernment of the American people is misgovernment by the American people.

  Lincoln Steffens

  People

  Lincoln Steffens (1931). “The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens”, p.434, Heyday

  46 Copy quote

• Nothing is done. Everything in the world remains to be done or done over. The greatest picture is not yet painted, the greatest play isn't written, the greatest poem is unsung. There isn't in all the world a perfect railroad, nor a good government, nor a sound law. Physics, mathematics, and especially the most advanced and exact of the sciences are being fundamentally revised. . . Psychology, economics, and sociology are awaiting a Darwin, whose work in turn is awaiting an Einstein.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Creativity, Law, Play

  Lincoln Steffens (1937). “The autobiography of Lincoln Steffens: abridged”

  57 Copy quote

• You ask men in office to be honest; I ask them to serve the public.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Men, Office, Honest

  29 Copy quote

• It is privilege that causes evil in the world, not wickedness, and not men.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Men, Evil, Wickedness

  Lincoln Steffens (1931). “The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens ...”, Harcourt

  21 Copy quote

• Morality is only moral when it is voluntary.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Atheism, Ethics, Morality

  33 Copy quote

• Keep your baby eyes (which are the eyes of genius) on what we don't know

  Lincoln Steffens

  Baby, Eye, Genius

  52 Copy quote

• Why is it that the less intelligence people have, the more spiritual they are? They seem to fill all the vacant, ignorant spaces in their heads with soul. Which explains how it is that the less knowledge they have, the more religion.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Spiritual, Space, People

  19 Copy quote

• The spirit of graft and of lawlessness is the American spirit.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Lawlessness, Spirit, American Spirit

  Lincoln Steffens (2012). “The Shame of the Cities”, p.8, Courier Corporation

  23 Copy quote

• I have seen the future, and it works.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Letter to Marie Howe, 3 Apr. 1919. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations notes: "Steffens had composed the expression before he had even arrived in Russia."

  24 Copy quote

• If we would leave parties to the politicians, and would vote not for the party, not even for men, but for the city, and the State, and the nation, we should rule parties, and cities, and States, and nation.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Party, Men, Cities

  Lincoln Steffens (2012). “The Shame of the Cities”, p.6, Courier Corporation

  21 Copy quote

• Nothing is done. Everything in the world remains to be done or done over.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Growth, Done, World

  Lincoln Steffens (1931). “The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens”, p.126, Heyday

  18 Copy quote

• The only thing worth having in an earthly existence is a sense of humor.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Sense Of Humor, Existence

  Lincoln Steffens (1936). “Lincoln Steffens speaking”

  28 Copy quote

• Whenever anything extraordinary is done in American municipal politics, whether for good or for evil, you can trace it almost invariably to one man. The people do not do it. Neither do the 'gangs,' 'combines,' or political parties.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Party, Men, People

  18 Copy quote

• We know that there is no absolute knowledge, that there are only theories; but we forget this. The better educated we are, the harder we believe in axioms.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Believe, Atheism, Forget

  Lincoln Steffens (1931). “The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens”, p.816, Heyday

  14 Copy quote

• If we would vote in mass on the more promising ticket, or, if the two are equally bad, would throw out the party that is in, and wait till the next election and then throw out the other party that is in - then, I say, the commercial politician would feel a demand for good government and he would supply it.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Party, Government, Two

  Lincoln Steffens (2012). “The Shame of the Cities”, p.6, Courier Corporation

  17 Copy quote

• It is our knowledge - the things we are sure of - that makes the world go wrong and keeps us from seeing and learning.

  Lincoln Steffens

  World, Seeing

  7 Copy quote

• It is possible to get an education at a university. It has been done; not often.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Done, University, Has Beens

  Lincoln Steffens (1931). “The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens”, p.124, Heyday

  5 Copy quote

• Art is like a border of flowers along the course of civilization.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Art, Flower, Civilization

  16 Copy quote

• You can't control a young horse unless you control yourself.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Horse, Young

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• The commercial spirit is the spirit of profit, not patriotism; of credit, not honor; of individual gain, not national prosperity; of trade and dickering, not principle.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Honor, Principles, Credit

  6 Copy quote

• The doctrine of Jesus is the most revolutionary propaganda that I have ever encountered.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Jesus, Doctrine, Revolutionary

  Lincoln Steffens (1962). “The World of Lincoln Steffens”

  7 Copy quote

• The politer the society, the greater the lies it requires.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Fear, Lying, Atheism

  Lincoln Steffens (1936). “Lincoln Steffens speaking”

  5 Copy quote

• First in violence, deepest in dirt, lawless, unlovely, ill-smelling, irreverent, new; an overgrown gawk of a - village, the "tough" among cities, a spectacle for the nation.

  Lincoln Steffens

  Cities, Chicago, Village

  Lincoln Steffens (2012). “The Shame of the Cities”, p.163, Courier Corporation

  20 Copy quote

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