All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.

All government, indeed every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue, and every prudent act, is founded on compromise and barter.

Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to read more

Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread. Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf is better than a whole loaf.

From compromise and things half done, Keep me with stern and stubborn pride; And when at read more

From compromise and things half done, Keep me with stern and stubborn pride; And when at last the fight is won, God, keep me still unsatisfied.

It is the weak man who urges compromise--never the strong man.

It is the weak man who urges compromise--never the strong man.

People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come read more

People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. Actually, all human problems, excepting morals, come into the gray areas. Things are not all black and white. There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.

From the beginning of our history the country has been afflicted with compromise. It is by compromise that human rights read more

From the beginning of our history the country has been afflicted with compromise. It is by compromise that human rights have been abandoned.

Being a man is the continuing battle for one's life. One loses a bit of manhood with every stale compromise read more

Being a man is the continuing battle for one's life. One loses a bit of manhood with every stale compromise to the authority of any power in which one does not believe.

The 'morality of compromise' sounds contradictory. Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an admission of defeat. Strong men read more

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.

Once you consent to some concession, you can never cancel it and put things back the way they are.

Once you consent to some concession, you can never cancel it and put things back the way they are.