no man is superior, unless it was by merit, and no man is inferior, unless by his demerit. - Doris Kearns Goodwin

When Taft gives way to his (anger), one reporter observed, it is to inflict a merciless thrashing upon its victim, for whom thereafter he has no use whatsoever. With Roosevelt is a case of powder and spark; there is a vivid flash and a deafening roar, but when the smoke is blown away, it is the end.

More and more it seems to me that about the best thing in life is to have a piece of work worth doing and then to do it well.

As he had done so many times before, Lincoln withstood the storm of defeat by replacing anguish over an unchangeable past with hope in an uncharted future.