Sam Houston Quotes

Until nations are generous they will never be wise; true policy is generous policy. All bitterness, selfishness, etc., may gain small ends, but lose great ones.

To avoid entangling alliances has been a maxim of our policy ever since the days of Washington, and its wisdom no one will attempt to dispute.

Most foreign policies that history has marked highly, in whatever country, have been originated by leaders who were opposed by experts.

This generosity that has been offered to the United States says very much about the Venezuelan spirit.

Japan is a great nation. It should begin to act like one.

America needs young people to be inspired to choose sacrifice over greed.

My heart has always been truly convinced that in serving the cause of America, I am fighting for the interests of France.

Those who devote their lives to serving our country, children, and neighborhoods are giving back. They have answered the call to serve.

Every nation whose affairs betray a want of wisdom and stability may calculate on every loss which can be sustained from the more systematic policy of its wiser neighbors.

A voluntary deed is infinitely more precious to our national ideas and spirit than a thousandfold poured from the treasury.

It is unacceptable to be silent about American generosity.

I desire to serve your country as if it were my own, and I hope to find in the friendship of a generous people the true reward of a labor that I consecrate to them.

Foreign policy should be strategic, not tactical.

The ages of greatest public spirit are not always eminent for private virtue.

Nor should we assume that a nation's foreign policy is simply the logical outgrowth of general national conceptions. It is rather the result of many diverse forces, practical as well as patriotic.

I want to do things for the people of this country.

Every day, people serve their neighbors and our nation in many different ways, from helping a child learn and easing the loneliness of those without a family to defending our freedom overseas. It is in this spirit of dedication to others and to our country that I believe service should be broadly and deeply encouraged.

We are at our best when we give the ultimate sacrifice of putting other people, putting the country, putting our communities ahead of ourselves.

Unless taught otherwise, children are the most selfish, oblivious little Philistines on the planet. They have no family, no job, no responsibilities, and nothing but time to think about their gluttonous, sticky selves. We should be teaching them to take some focus off of themselves and onto how they can best serve/treat others.

Never will I pursue happiness, because it is not a goal, just a by-product, and there is no happiness in having or in getting, only in giving.

You should never do something kind in hopes of recognition. Do it because its right. Do it because it makes you feel good.

A good man will never harm or oppress another. A good man will share his last morsel of food with others in need, and die of hunger when he no longer has any food -- instead of cheat or steal from others to survive. Selflessness. Humility. Truthfulness. These are the three marks of an honorable man.

Love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism.

The American spirit wears no political label. In service to others and yes, in sacrifice for our country, there are no Republicans; there are no Democrats; there are only Americans.

If we should cease to be generous and charitable because another is sordid and ungrateful, it would be much in the power of vice to extinguish Christian virtues.