Whenever anything extraordinary is done in American municipal politics, whether for good or for evil, you can trace it almost invariably to one man. The people do not do it. Neither do the 'gangs,' 'combines,' or political parties. — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share Image
The typical American citizen is the business man. The typical business man is a bad citizen; he is busy. If he is a 'big… — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
The best picture has not yet been painted; the greatest poem is still unsung; the mightiest novel remains to be written; the divinest music… — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
In science, probably ninety-nine percent of the knowable has to be discovered. We know only a few streaks about astronomy. We are only beginning… — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
We need some great failures. Especially we ever-successful Americans - conscious, intelligent, illuminating failures. — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
Boston has carried the practice of hypocrisy to the n-th degree of refinement, grace, and failure. — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
The commercial spirit is the spirit of profit, not patriotism; of credit, not honor; of individual gain, not national prosperity; of trade and dickering,… — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
The misgovernment of the American people is misgovernment by the American people. — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
The longer I live, the more I feel that the individual is not so much to blame - not even the worst individuals, not… — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
Somebody must take a chance. There are monkeys who became men, and the monkeys who didn't are still jumping around in trees making faces… — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
Power is what men seek, and any group that gets it will abuse it. It is the same story. — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
And an educated mind is nothing but the God-given mind of a child after his parents' and his grandparents' generation have got through molding… — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
It is possible to get an education at a university. It has been done; not often. — Lincoln Steffens Copy Share
