William Jennings Bryan

“ When a lawyer has helped his client to obtain all that he really deserves he has done his full duty as a lawyer, and if he goes beyond this, he goes at his own peril. Show me a lawyer who has spent a lifetime trying to obscure the line between right and wrong, trying to prove that to be just which he knew to be unjust, and I will show you a man who has grown weaker in character year by year, and whose advice, at last, will be of no value to his clients, for he will have lost the power to discern between right and wrong. ”

“ But a representative is not liable to knowingly misrepresent his constituents unless he has pecuniary interests adverse to theirs. This is the temptation to be resisted—this is the sin to be avoided. The official who uses his position to secure a pecuniary advantage at the expense of those for whom he acts is an embezzler of power—and an embezzler of power is as guilty of moral turpitude as the embezzler of money. There is no better motto for the public official than that given by Solomon: “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favor rather than silver and gold.” ”

“ Permit me, in conclusion, to say that the nation, as well as the individual and the party, must be measured by its purpose, its ideals and its service. “Let him who would be chiefest among you be the servant of all,” was intended for nations as well as for citizens. Our nation is the greatest in the world and the greatest of all time, because it is rendering a larger service than any other nation is rendering or has rendered. It is giving the world ideals in education, in social life, in government and in religion. It is the teacher of nations, it is the world's torch-bearer. ”

“ It seems, therefore, that while one can not rightfully collect more than he honestly earns, he may earn more than it would be wise for him to collect. And that brings us to the next question: How much should one desire to collect from society? I answer, that no matter how large a service he may render or how much he may earn, one should not desire to collect more than he can wisely spend.
And how much can one wisely spend? Not as much as you might think, and not nearly as much as some have tried to spend. No matter how honestly money may be acquired, one is not free to spend it at will. ”

“ We enjoy by inheritance, or by choice, the blessings of American citizenship; let us not be unmindful of the obligations which these blessings impose. Let us not become so occupied in the struggle for wealth or in the contest for honors as to repudiate the debt that we owe to those who have gone before us and to those who bear with us the responsibilities that rest upon the present generation. Society has claims upon us; our country makes demands upon our time, our thought and our purpose. ”

“ I appeal to you to assist, in every possible way, in the creation of a public sentiment which will ostracise the business man who purchases legislation with the profits derived from privileges already secured, or who advances corruption money in anticipation of the profits which governmental favors promise.
In the counting room as well as in the editor's library and in the lawyer's office one hears the heart-searching question: “What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”—and happiness, honor and usefulness all hang upon the answer. ”

“ Some have thought the soul question a question of the next world only, but it is a question of this world also; some have thought the soul question a Sabbath-day question only, but it is a week-day question as well; some have thought the soul question a question for the ministers alone, but it is a question which we all must meet. Every day and every week, every month and every year, from the time we reach the period of accountability until we die, we—each of us—all of us, weigh the soul. ”

“ The third temptation to which the commercial man is subjected is the corruption of politics. Just in proportion as a corporation secures a monopoly of the business in which it is engaged, in that proportion the necessity for government regulation increases, and I may add, the difficulty of securing regulation increases in proportion to the necessity for it. Municipal corruption has become a byword, and the lobbyist has made his evil presence felt at the national and State capitals. Bribery is becoming a fine art, and neither the voter nor his representative is spared. ”

“ One who exercises authority conferred upon him by the suffrages of his fellows ought to be fortified in his integrity by the consciousness of the fact that a betrayal of his trust is hurtful to the party which honors him and unjust to the people whom he serves, as well as injurious to himself. Nothing that he can gain, not even the whole world, can compensate him for the loss that he suffers in the surrender of a high ideal of public duty. ”

“ What shall we say of a million dollars? Can a man earn that much? To do so he must earn a little more than thirty thousand dollars a year for thirty-three years. Is it possible for one to render so large a service? I believe that it is. Well, what shall we say of ten million? To earn that much one must earn on an average a little more than three hundred thousand a year for thirty-three years. Is it possible for one to render a service so large as to earn so vast a sum? ”

“ The court room is a soul's market where many barter away their ideals in the hope of winning wealth or fame. Lawyers sometimes boast of the number of men whose acquittal they have secured when they knew them to be guilty, and of advantages won which they knew their clients did not deserve. I do not understand how a lawyer can so boast, for he is an officer of the court and, as such, is sworn to assist in the administration of justice. ”

“ If time permitted I could take up every occupation, every avocation, every profession and every calling, and show you that no matter which way we turn—no matter what we do—we are always and everywhere weighing the Soul. ”

“ And exactly in proportion as we put the soul above all things else we build character; the moment we allow the soul to become a matter of merchandise, we start on the downward way.
Tolstoy says that if you would investigate the career of a criminal it is not sufficient to begin with the commission of a crime; that you must go back to that day in his life when he deliberately trampled upon his conscience and did that which he knew to be wrong. And so with all of us, the turning point in the life is the day when we surrender the soul for something that for the time being seems more desirable. ”

“ Carlyle, in the closing chapters of his “French Revolution” says that thought is stronger than artillery parks and at last molds the world like soft clay, and then he adds that back of thought is love. Carlyle is right. Love is the greatest power in the world. The nations that are dead boasted that their flag was feared; let it be our boast that our flag is loved. ”

“ It would be a reflection upon the intelligence and patriotism of the people to assert, or even to assume, that lasting benefit could be secured for a party by the lowering of its standards. He serves his party most loyally who serves his country most faithfully; it is a fatal error to suppose that a party can be permanently benefited by a betrayal of the nation's interests. ”

“ As justice is the basis of a nation's strength and gives it hope of perpetuity, and, as the seeds of decay are sown whenever injustice enters into government, patriotism as well as conscience leads us to analyze every public question, ascertain the moral principle involved and then cast our influence, whether it be great or small, on the side of justice. ”

“ If a young man has so much money coming to him that he knows he will never have to work, the chances are that it will sap his energy, even if it does not undermine his character, and leave him a curse rather than a blessing to those who brought him into the world. And it is scarcely safer to leave the money to a daughter. For if a young woman has a prospective inheritance so large that, when a young man calls upon her, she can not tell whether he is calling upon her or her father, it is embarrassing—especially so if she finds after marriage that he married the wrong member of the family. ”

“ In the brief time that it is proper for me to occupy, I shall apply the thought to those departments of human activity in which the sale of a soul affects others largely as well as the individual who makes the bargain.
Take the occupation in which I am engaged, journalism. It presents a great field—a growing field; in fact, there are few fields so large. The journalist is both a news gatherer and a molder of thought. ”

“ And because so many of our temptations come through the love of money and the desire to obtain it, it is worth while to consider the laws of accumulation. We must all have money; we need food and clothing and shelter, and money is necessary for the purchase of these things. Money is not an evil in itself—money is, in fact, a very useful servant. It is bad only when it becomes the master, and the love of it is hurtful only because it can, and often does, crowd out the love of nobler things. ”

“ I might dwell upon the evil effects of speculation upon innocent parties whose property is juggled up or juggled down by the manipulations of the market, but I would appeal, not only to the innocent outsider, but to those who may be tempted by the profits promised to the inside ring. I would suggest, however, that those who by cornering the market suspend the law of supply and demand, add crime to vice and defraud those who are induced to invest in a “chance” which has no actual existence. ”

“ If a man who is planning a train-robbery takes another along to hold a horse at a convenient distance, we say that the man who holds the horse is equally guilty with the man who robs the train; and the time will come when public opinion will hold as equally guilty with the plunderers of society the lawyers and journalists who assist the plunderers to escape. ”

“ The party is made for its members, not the members for the party; and a party is useful, therefore, only as it is a means through which one may protect his rights, guard his interests and promote the public welfare. The best service that a man can render his party is to raise its ideals. He basely betrays his party's hopes and is recreant to his duty to his party associates who seeks to barter away a noble party purpose for temporary advantages or for the spoils of office. ”

“ The purpose of education is not merely to develop the mind; it is to prepare men and women for society's work and for citizenship. The ideals of the teacher, therefore, are of the first importance. The pupil is apt to be as much influenced by what his teacher is as by what the teacher says or does. The measure of a school can not be gathered from an inspection of the examination papers; the conception of life which the graduate carries away must be counted in estimating the benefits conferred. The pecuniary rewards of the teacher are usually small when compared with the rewards of business. ”

“ There is an apparent exception in the case of an inheritance, but it is not a real exception, for if the man who leaves the money has honestly earned it, he has already given society a service of equivalent value and, therefore, has a right to distribute it. And money received by inheritance is either payment for service already rendered, or payment in advance for service to be rendered. No right-minded person will accept money, even by inheritance, without recognizing the obligation it imposes to render a service in return. ”

“ It is not strange that many are charmed by the siren song of the stock ticker, but it means ruin, and to the extent that a man yields to the temptation his morals are weakened. There is but one sure measure of rewards, viz., one that compensates each in proportion as he serves society. The securing of something for nothing by a lucky turn of a card, or by a sudden change in the market paralyzes one's purpose, and, in time, renders him unfit for patient and persistent effort. ”

“ The men who, twenty-five years from now, will be the leaders in business, in society, in government, and in the church, are not the pampered sons of the rich, but the young men who, with good health and good habits, with high ideals and strong ambition, are, under the spur of necessity, laying the foundation for future achievements, and these young men do not have a chance to become acquainted with the daughters of the very rich. ”

“ I venture an answer to this and say that a man can not honestly earn more than fairly measures the service which he renders to society. I can not conceive of any way of earning money except to give to society a service equivalent in value to the money collected. This is a fundamental proposition and it is important that it should be clearly understood, for if one desires to collect largely from society he must be prepared to render a large service to society ”

“ Not only do I believe that a man can earn five hundred million, but I believe that men have earned it. I believe that Thomas Jefferson earned more than five hundred million. The service that he rendered to the world was of such great value that had he collected for it five hundred million of dollars, he would not have been overpaid. ”

“ There is an old saying which we have all heard, that “The poor man is looking for food for his stomach, while the rich man is going from one watering place to another looking for a stomach for his food.” This is only a witty way of expressing the sober truth, namely, that one is limited in the amount of money he can wisely spend for food.
We need clothing—we all need clothing, and we need the same amount. The difference in quantity is not great. ”