Daniel Webster Quotes

A collection of quotes by Daniel Webster.

Daniel Webster was an influential American statesman and lawyer who lived from 1782 to 1852. Born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, he displayed remarkable intellectual abilities from a young age. Webster graduated from Dartmouth College in 1801 and began practicing law in New Hampshire. He quickly gained renown for his oratory skills and became known as one of the most skilled lawyers in the country.

Webster's career in public service began in 1812 when he was elected to the House of Representatives. His eloquence and impressive knowledge of constitutional law earned him national recognition. Over the course of his political career, he served as a member of both the House and Senate, representing Massachusetts for a majority of his tenure.

As a staunch nationalist, Webster played a crucial role in advocating for a strong and centralized federal government, earning him the nickname "Defender of the Constitution." He was a prominent supporter of Henry Clay's American System, which aimed to promote economic growth through protective tariffs and a national bank. Throughout his career, Webster gave several notable speeches, including his famous address to the Senate in 1830, known as the "Reply to Hayne," in which he passionately defended the supremacy of the federal government.

Webster's influence extended beyond the political arena, as he was deeply involved in the legal profession. He argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, including the landmark Dartmouth College v. Woodward case, which affirmed the sanctity of private contracts.

Daniel Webster passed away in 1852, leaving behind a rich legacy as one of America's most celebrated orators and statesmen.

The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the gra

The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power.

Keep cool anger is not an argument.

Keep cool anger is not an argument.

The world is governed more by appearance than realities so t

The world is governed more by appearance than realities so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it.

The people's government, made for the people, made by the pe

The people's government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people.

Government

If there be any thing in my style or thought to be commended

If there be any thing in my style or thought to be commended, the credit is due to my kind parents in instilling into my mind an early love of the Scriptures.

Love Style Mind

The dignity of history consists in reciting events with trut

The dignity of history consists in reciting events with truth and accuracy, and in presenting human agents and their actions in an interesting and instructive form. The first element in history, therefore, is truthfulness; and this truthfulness must be displayed in a concrete form.

Truth History Action

An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, the power t

An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, the power to destroy.

Power

Justice, sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is t

Justice, sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together.

Politics

He who tampers with the currency robs labor of its bread.

He who tampers with the currency robs labor of its bread.

The contest, for ages, has been to rescue Liberty from the g

The contest, for ages, has been to rescue Liberty from the grasp of executive power.

Where is it written in the Constitution, in what article or

Where is it written in the Constitution, in what article or section is it contained, that you may take children from their parents, and parents from their children, and compel them to fight the battles of any war in which the folly or the wickedness of government may engage it?

God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always

God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.

When the spotless ermine of the judicial robe fell on John J

When the spotless ermine of the judicial robe fell on John Jay, it touched nothing less spotless than itself.

They are usually denominated labor-saving machines, but it w

They are usually denominated labor-saving machines, but it would be more just to call them labor-doing machines.

If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work on brass,

If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work on brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to dust. But if we work on mens immortal minds, if we impress on them high principles, the just fear of God, and love for their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which no time can efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all eternity.

When the mariner has been tossed for many days in thick weat

When the mariner has been tossed for many days in thick weather, and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude, and ascertain how far the elements have driven him from his true course. Let us imitate this prudence, and, before we float farther on the waves of this debate, refer to the point from which we departed, that we may at least be able to conjecture where we now are.

While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting, gratifying pr

While the Union lasts, we have high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for us and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate the veil. God grant that in my day, at least, that curtain may not rise! God grant that on my vision never may be opened what lies behind! When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now known and honored throughout the earth, still full and high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, not a strip erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, bearing for its motto, no such miserable interrogatory as What is all this worth? nor those other words of delusion and folly, Liberty first and Union afterwards; but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart,Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable!

What do we want with this vast, worthless area? This region

What do we want with this vast, worthless area? This region of savages and wild beasts, of deserts of shifting sands and whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs? To what use could we ever hope to put these great deserts, or those endless mountain ranges, impenetrable and covered to their very base with eternal snow? What can we ever hope to do with the western coast, a coast of three thousand miles, rock-bound, cheerless, uninviting, and not a harbor on it? What use have we for this country?

The Senator says the territory of California is three times

The Senator says the territory of California is three times greater than the average extent of the new States of the Union. Well, Sir, suppose it is. We all know that it has more than three times as many mountains, inaccessible and rocky hills, and sandy wastes, as are possessed by any State of the Union. But how much is there of useful land? how much that may be made to contribute to the support of man and of society? These ought to be the questions. Well, with respect to that, I am sure that everybody has become satisfied that, although California may have a very great sea-board, and a large city or two, yet that the agricultural products of the whole surface now are not, and never will be, equal to one half part of those of the State of Illinois; no, nor yet a fourth, or perhaps a tenth part.

We have been taught to regard a representative of the people

We have been taught to regard a representative of the people as a sentinel on the watch-tower of liberty.