For half a century we sought happiness,” Elias’s wife says in this story, “and as long as we were rich we never found it. Now that we have nothing left, and have taken service as laborers, we have found such happiness that we want nothing better.” This simple yet profound story is a good one for anybody choosing a career, job, or task. There’s certainly nothing wrong with working to get money, but there may be something very wrong if you think getting the money gets you happiness.

— William J. Bennett

William J. Bennett Quotes

Responsible persons are mature people who have taken charge of themselves and their conduct, who own their actions and own up to them – who answer for them.

— William J. Bennett

I have no doubt that the real irritation of those on the religious right is not that their particular creed is not embraced by the schools, but that often their creed is the only one singled out for contempt.

— William J. Bennett

Home is a shelter from storms – all sorts of storms.

— William J. Bennett

The elementary school must assume as its sublime and most solemn responsibility the task of teaching every child in it to read. Any school that does not accomplish this has failed.

— William J. Bennett

There is nothing more influential in a child’s life than the moral power of quiet example. For children to take morality seriously they must see adults take morality seriously.

— William J. Bennett

From Samuel Adams to Patrick Henry to Benjamin Franklin to Alexander Hamilton, all the Founders intended religion to provide a moral anchor for our liberty in democracy.

— William J. Bennett

A City University of New York study done in 1991 revealed that nearly 90% of the American people identify themselves religiously as Christians or Jews, while only 7.5 percent claim no religion.

— William J. Bennett

Our common language is English. And our common task is to ensure that our non-English-speaking children learn this common language.

— William J. Bennett

True courage is mixed with circumspection, the kind of healthy skepticism that asks, ‘Is this the best way to do this?’ True cowardice is marked by chronic skepticism, which always says, ‘It can’t be done.’

— William J. Bennett

It is ironic that anyone who appeals to religious values today runs the risk of being called ‘divisive’ or attacked as an enemy of pluralism.

— William J. Bennett

The history of our nation is intertwined with a certain religious tradition, and that the First Amendment was not intended to result in the complete exclusion of religious beliefs from our public classrooms.

— William J. Bennett

Firsts

America’s support for human rights and democracy is our noblest export to the world.

— William J. Bennett

John Stuart Mill, the British philosopher, said, “War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

— William J. Bennett

One good way to understand what conservatism is really about is to use the acronym FLINT to remember five core concepts: Free enterprise, Limited government, Individual liberty, National defense, and Traditional values. These five principles are a good summary of conservative thought in America today.

— William J. Bennett

There is no end to the good you can do if you don’t care who gets credit for it.

— William J. Bennett

The day Americans stop viewing explicit patriotism as a virtue and begin to view it as something “eccentric and foolish” is the day we cease to be a great country.

— William J. Bennett

We Americans are so good at critiquing our own nation, so determined to make it better, that sometimes we neglect to acknowledge all that is wonderful about it. Let us not commit the sin of ingratitude for so many blessings.

— William J. Bennett

For half a century we sought happiness,” Elias’s wife says in this story, “and as long as we were rich we never found it. Now that we have nothing left, and have taken service as laborers, we have found such happiness that we want nothing better.” This simple yet profound story is a good one for anybody choosing a career, job, or task. There’s certainly nothing wrong with working to get money, but there may be something very wrong if you think getting the money gets you happiness.

— William J. Bennett

Tis a lesson you should heed, Try, try again; If at first you don’t succeed, Try, try again; Then your courage should appear, For, if you will persevere, You will conquer, never fear; Try, try again.

— William J. Bennett

Simply put, war restores in man the belief that there are some things worth fighting and dying for; things like love, liberty, and faith.

— William J. Bennett

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