Quotessence
Home / Authors / William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan

William Jennings Bryan Quotes

Former United States Secretary of State

Filter quotes by topic

AllIfsBryanGovernmentMenPeopleBelieveEvolutionHumansMatterMay

Famous William Jennings Bryan Quotes

“The human measure of a human life is its income; the divine measure of a life is its outgo, its overflow its contribution to the welfare of all.... If every word spoken in behalf of truth has its influence and every deed done for the right weighs in the final account, it is immaterial to the Christian whether his eyes behold victory or whether he dies in the midst of conflict.”

IfsHumansDoneEyeChristianLife IsDiesInfluenceDivineVictoryConflictAccountsFinalsDeedsIncomeHuman LifeWelfareHis EyesContributionMidstBehalfOverflowDeeds Done
Author:William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“Our government, conceived in liberty and purchased with blood, can be preserved only by constant vigilance. May we guard it as our children's richest legacy, for what shall it profit our nation if it shall gain the whole world and lose “the spirit that prizes liberty as the heritage of all men in all lands everywhere”?”

IfsMenWorldMayChildrenWholeGovernmentSpiritNationsLosesLibertyBloodLandGainsOur ChildrenConstantProfitWhole WorldLegacyPrizeHeritageVigilance
Book:In His Image: By William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

LifeInspirationalMatterWisdomMotivationalSpiritualSuccessChoicesWaitingChanceDestinyRiskAchievePositiveWise WordsFutureAchievementFortuneMotivational SportsWrestlingGraduationOur DestinySetting GoalsTake A ChanceYour DestinyChances AreTaking ActionLife ChoicesTaking RisksRisk ItRisk-takingMy DestinyDetermination And SuccessInspirational SuccessFate DestinyAchieving SuccessPower Of ChoiceBryanFuture LifeAchieved SuccessFulfilling Your DestinyInspirational ChangeFate And DestinyRisks In LifeMotivation Goal SettingAchievement And SuccessChange And GrowthSucceeding In LifeChance And RiskSuccess Is Not MeasuredLife DestinyLife And DestinyManifest DestinyMotivational AchievementDestiny And ChoiceGoals And AchievementChances In LifeFuture PlanningLife And ChoicesFuture DestinyLife FateSecond ChoiceCreating Your FutureChance And Change
Book:The Life and Speeches of Hon. Wm. Jennings Bryan
Create image

“The way to develop self-confidence is to do the thing you fear and get a record of successful experiences behind you.”

WaySelfMotivationalFearInspiringBehindsSuccessfulRecordsRiskConfidenceSelf ConfidenceEsteemSelf RelianceTake A ChanceChances AreBehind YouHave ConfidenceTaking RisksRisk-takingBoost Self ConfidenceBoost Self EsteemBest SelfSelf Esteem And ConfidenceSelf ConfidentBryanConfidence BoostingBoost Your ConfidenceBoost Your Self EsteemRisks In LifeChance And RiskRisks And Taking ChancesSelf Confidence MotivationalRaise Self EsteemRisk And SuccessRisking Your HeartImprove Self Esteem
Author:William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“The parents have a right to say that no teacher paid by their money shall rob their children of faith in God and send them back to their homes skeptical, or infidels, or agnostics, or atheists.”

ChildrenHomeParentTeacherAtheismPaidAtheistFaith In GodSkepticismInfidelityAgnosticSkepticalInfidelBryan
Book:The world's most famous court trial: State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes; complete stenographic report of the court test of the Tennessee anti-evolution act at Dayton, July 10 to 21, 1925, including speeches and arguments of attorneys
Create image

“There can be no settlement of a great cause without discussion, and people will not discuss a cause until their attention is drawn to it.”

PeopleCausesAttentionDiscussionSettlement
Book:The world's most famous court trial: State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes; complete stenographic report of the court test of the Tennessee anti-evolution act at Dayton, July 10 to 21, 1925, including speeches and arguments of attorneys
Create image

“Service is the measure of greatness; it always has been true; it is true today, and it always will be true, that he is greatest who does the most of good. Nearly all of our controversies and combats grow out of the fact that we are trying to get something from each other--there will be peace when our aim is to do something for each other. The human measure of a human life is its income; the divine measure of a life is its outgo, its overflow--its contribution to the welfare of all.”

TryingHumansDoeHas BeensFactsTodayLife IsGrowsGreatnessDivineAimIncomeBeing TrueHuman LifeWelfareContributionCombatControversyOverflow
Author:William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence.”

AcknowledgeDependenceThanksgivingThanksgiving DayThanksgiving And GratitudeThanksgiving ThanksThanksgiving GratitudeThanksgiving HolidayInspirational ThanksgivingHappy ThanksgivingFunny ThanksgivingThanksgiving InspirationalThanksgiving FunnyGood ThanksgivingFunny Thanksgiving DayChristian ThanksgivingFriends ThanksgivingHoliday GivingGreat ThanksgivingThanksgiving ThoughtsNice ThanksgivingHoliday Thoughts
Book:Speeches of William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“Science is a magnificent force, but it is not a teacher of morals. It can perfect machinery, but it adds no moral restraints to protect society from the misuse of the machine. It can also build gigantic intellectual ships, but it constructs no moral rudders for the control of storm tossed human vessel. It not only fails to supply the spiritual element needed but some of its unproven hypotheses rob the ship of its compass and thus endangers its cargo.”

HumansSpiritualScienceForcePerfectMoralTeacherFailingNeededProtectElementsIntellectualMachinesAccountsAddStormShipsMagnificentRestraintConstructsHypothesisCompassMachineryVesselMisuseBryanCargoRudders
Book:William Jennings Bryan on Orthodoxy, Modernism, and Evolution
Create image

“One miracle is just as easy to believe as another.”

BelieveEasyMiracleBeliveBryanScopes Trial
Book:The world's most famous court trial: State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes; complete stenographic report of the court test of the Tennessee anti-evolution act at Dayton, July 10 to 21, 1925, including speeches and arguments of attorneys
Create image

“The first objection to Darwinism is that it is only a guess and was never anything more. It is called a "hypothesis," but the word "hypothesis," though euphonious, dignified and high-sounding, is merely a scientific synonym for the old-fashioned word "guess." If Darwin had advanced his views as a guess they would not have survived for a year, but they have floated for half a century, buoyed up by the inflated word "hypothesis." When it is understood that "hypothesis" means "guess," people will inspect it more carefully before accepting it.”

PeopleIfsYearsFirstsMeanScienceViewsHalfAcceptingCenturyAcceptanceEvolutionUnderstoodDignitySurvivedOld FashionedHypothesisObjectionsDarwinismBryanSynonymHalf A Century
Author:William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“The real question is, Did God use evolution as His plan? If it could be shown that man, instead of being made in the image of God, is a development of beasts we would have to accept it, regardless of its effort, for truth is truth and must prevail. But when there is no proof we have a right to consider the effect of the acceptance of an unsupported hypothesis.”

IfsMenMadeRealUseScienceEffortAcceptingPlansEffectsAcceptanceDevelopmentEvolutionTruth IsProofBeastHypothesisGod ImageReal Questions
Author:William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“The money problem facing the country from 1789 to 1896 existed because Congress never exercised is authority to "coin money or regulate the value thereof" - but rather delegated that authority, sometimes by charter and sometimes by default, to the banking system. This despite the provision in the Constitution that charged Congress with the power to 'coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standards of weight and Measures.'”

CountrySometimesProblemValuesAuthorityStandardsWeightConstitutionCongressDespiteCoinsBankingProvisionMonetaryDefaultCharterBanking SystemMoney Problem
Author:William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“And who can suffer injury by just taxation, impartial laws and the application of the Jeffersonian doctrine of equal rights to all and special privileges to none? Only those whose accumulations are stained with dishonesty and whose immoral methods have given them a distorted view of business, society and government. Accumulating by conscious frauds more money than they can use upon themselves, wisely distribute or safely leave to their children, these denounce as public enemies all who question their methods or throw a light upon their crimes.”

WorldLightEnemyCrimeMethodBankingBankersMonetaryNew World OrderFederal ReserveCentral BanksMoney And PowerMonetary SystemAutocracyInsolentMoney PowerUsuryBankers And BanksCentral BankingPublic EnemiesMoney In Politics
Author:William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“The Bible differs from all other books in that it never wears out. Other books are read and laid aside, but the Bible is a constant companion. No matter how often we read it or how familiar we become with it, some new truth is likely to spring out at us from its pages whenever we open it, or some old truth will impress us as it never did before. Every Christian can give illustrations of this.”

GivingBookMatterChristianTruth IsPagesSpringConstantChristian InspirationalFamiliarCompanionImpressIllustration
Book:In His Image: By William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“There is no more reason to believe that man descended from an inferior animal than there is to believe that a stately mansion has descended from a small cottage.”

MenBelieveReasonAnimalScaryInferiorsMansionsCottages
Book:William Jennings Bryan's Last Message: A Reprint of His Famous Closing Arguments for the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, Undelivered and Posthumously Published
Create image

“If God himself was not willing to use coercion to force man to accept certain religious views, man, uninspired and liable to error, ought not to use the means that Jehovah would not employ.”

IfsMenMeanUseCertainForceReligiousViewsAcceptingWillingOughtErrorsPresidentialCoercionLiableJehovahUninspiredReligious Views
Book:The world's most famous court trial: State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes; complete stenographic report of the court test of the Tennessee anti-evolution act at Dayton, July 10 to 21, 1925, including speeches and arguments of attorneys
Create image

“There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below. The DEMOCRATIC idea, however, has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous, their prosperity will find its way up through every class which rests upon them”

IfsWayBelieveWellsHas BeensTwoIdeasGovernmentPoliticalPoliticsClassDemocracyRichPoliticianMassDemocraticDemocratProsperityOrdinary PeopleProsperousLegislatureBourgeoisieLeaksCommon InterestsTrickle Down EconomicsSupply Side Economics
Author:William Jennings Bryan
Create image

“The Bible holds up before us ideals that are within sight of the weakest and the lowliest, and yet so high that the best and the noblest are kept with their faces turned ever upward. It carries the call of the Saviour to the remotest corners of the earth; on its pages are written the assurances of the present and our hopes for the future”

EarthFacesWrittenPagesIdealsSightCornersCarrieAssuranceSaviourHope For The Future
Book:In His Image: By William Jennings Bryan
Create image