Elizabeth Edwards Quotes

He [Theodore Roosevelt] acted upon the maxim that half a loaf is better than no bread. I believe that half a loaf is fatal whenever it is accepted at the sacrifice of the basic principle sought to be attained.... A half-way measure never fairly tests the principle and many utterly discredit it.

Never do a wrong thing to make a friend or keep one; the man who requires you to do so is dearly purchased at a sacrifice.

The devil is compromise.

I've always said there is a boulevard that exists between compromising your principles and getting everything you want. Now, we should never compromise our principles. And I never have. Those are the things that people vote for you on, that's the core of who you are. But there's always a boulevard between that and getting everything you want.

Even peace may be purchased at too high a price.

You can’t set aside … values in the name of political expediency.

You don't compromise principles, but you harmonize tactics to preserve unity.

The hardest thing in life is to know when to hold fast to one’s principles and when it is acceptable to bend them.

I am a Republican who is prepared to compromise—and contrary to the current misconceptions, compromise is not a capitulation of one’s principles

This is good government. We have divided government. To make divided government work you can’t ask each other to compromise core principles…. We ask each other to find common ground for the common good.

The person who pays an ounce of principle for a pound of popularity gets badly cheated.

I don't think there's anything in the compromise that means that there's a clash of ethics.

The 'morality of compromise' sounds contradictory. Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an admission of defeat. Strong men don't compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised.

I think a man becomes less than a man when he begins to compromise on what he believes is right.

But rarely have I made choices that made me feel I was really compromising what I believe.

It's not that I'm not willing to compromise. But I won't compromise on principles.

It is better to use fair means and fail, than foul and conquer.

In politics, there is no such thing as getting something for nothing. The payoff may involve compromises of various types that strike at the ideals and principles one has held deal all his life.

If you grew too fond of public life it might exact compromises even if finances were not involved.

All legislation is founded upon the principle of mutual concession.

You can't write laws in America if you don't compromise.

I never place myself mentally in the position of compromising principle and conscience. But there are times when I might harmonize differences in order to make progress, or maintain unity.

In Washington the word “compromise” has come to mean “surrender.” You just can’t do it

Compromises make all of us swallow hard.

I've never believed in seeking perfection at the risk of losing everything.