Beaten armies always shout, "TREASON!

— John Taliaferro

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

— John Taliaferro

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

— John Taliaferro

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

— John Taliaferro

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

— John Taliaferro

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

— John Taliaferro

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

— John Taliaferro

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

— John Taliaferro

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.

— John Taliaferro

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

— John Taliaferro