John Hay on Lincoln: "He always worked with things as they were, while never relinquishing the desire to make them better.

John Hay indicates that dealing with people directly as a holder of political office "requires a stronger heart and a more obedient nervous system than I possess.

Good luck belongs to those who know how and are not afraid." John Hay to President Theodore Roosevelt

Behind those thick glasses (of TR's) was a man who did not blink.

John Hay points to our our history of getting lost in suffering when, "so close together were pain and antidote.

I like to introduce myself, because THEN I can get in all the facts." The usually self-deprecating John Hay on the ironic formality of signing his own commission as Secretary of State.

He had no desire to grandstand for his country or himself.

If he could be hard on kings and cabinets, he was invariably kind to his colleagues.

The Admiral so regrets failure, he cannot THINK of success.

In this slipshod age, we need object lessons in language and thought. – Edith Wharton on an address by John Hay

Henry Adams observes that John Hay has the ability to take the world as a whole rather than pulling it to pieces in criticism. He also observes that, in the routine of a stressful job, this perspective is challenged

Because we have only one (life) we go about blundering along him nervous haste.

When we get to Heaven, we can try a monarchy, perhaps." John Hay

The author observes that the friendship of John Hay and Charles Francis Adams benefited from a physical distance that required correspondence, meaning that feelings only implied in person had to be explicitly expressed.

In Washington, the venerable were often vulnerable.

He did not so much follow his father's example as his father's vision.

Beaten armies always shout, "TREASON!