Legislation Quotes by Henry Clay

“I hope that it will yet be said, America is America's best customer.”

— Henry Clay

The arts of power and its minions are the same in all countries and in all ages. It marks its victim; denounces it; and…

— Henry Clay

Political parties serve to keep each other in check, one keenly watching the other.

— Henry Clay

An oppressed people are authorized whenever they can to rise and break their fetters.

— Henry Clay

In a scheme of policy which is devised for a nation, we should not limit our views to its operation during a single year,…

— Henry Clay

A nation's character is the sum of its splendid deeds; they constitute one common patrimony, the nation's inheritance. They awe foreign powers, they arouse…

— Henry Clay

Precedents deliberately established by wise men are entitled to great weight. They are evidence of truth, but only evidence...But a solitary precedent...which has never…

— Henry Clay

I have no commiseration for princes. My sympathies are reserved for the great mass of mankind ….

— Henry Clay

I had rather be right than be President.

— Henry Clay

The Constitution of the United States was made not merely for the generation that then existed, but for posterity- unlimited, undefined, endless, perpetual posterity.

— Henry Clay

Honor and good faith and justice are equally due from this country toward the weak as toward the strong.

— Henry Clay

The measure of the wealth of a nation is indicated by the measure of its protection of its industry; the measure of the poverty…

— Henry Clay