Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Joseph Steffenswas a New York reporter who launched a series of articles in McClure's, called Tweed Days in St. Louis, that would later be published together in a book titled The Shame of the Cities. He is remembered for investigating corruption in municipal government in American cities and for his early support for the Soviet Union...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth6 April 1866
CountryUnited States of America
breaking cities connection discovered leads men shared soon
Most men think graft a sporadic evil, breaking out here and there, with no connection between outbreaks. I shared the same opinion, but very soon I discovered that the graft in the cities always leads to the graft in the State.
abuse gets men power seek
Power is what men seek and any group that gets it will abuse it.
party men cities
If we would leave parties to the politicians, and would vote not for the party, not even for men, but for the city, and the State, and the nation, we should rule parties, and cities, and States, and nation.
men office honest
You ask men in office to be honest; I ask them to serve the public.
men evil world
It is privilege that causes evil in the world, not wickedness, and not men.
men abuse stories
Power is what men seek, and any group that gets it will abuse it. It is the same story.
men jumping tree
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 at the monkeys who did.
men class cities
In all cities, the better classes - the business men - are the sources of corruption, but they are so rarely pursued and caught that we do not fully realize whence the trouble comes.
party men evil
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.
morality
Morality is moral only when it is voluntary.
The Russian people, sober, are said to be a gentle people.
demand establish good government leaders steady supply
If our political leaders are to be always a lot of political merchants, they will supply any demand we may create. All we have to do is to establish a steady demand for good government.
american-journalist
I have been over into the future, and it works.
adventure field full province unknown wide
The unknown is the province of the student; it is the field for his life's adventure, and it is a wide field full of beckonings