Leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise. Once and again one of those great influences which we call a Cause arises in the midst of a nation. Men of strenuous minds and high ideals come forward.... The attacks they sustain are more cruel than the collision of arms.... Friends desert and despise them.... They stand alone and oftentimes are made bitter by their isolation.... They are doing nothing less than defy public opinion, and shall they convert it by blows. Yes.
ATTRIBUTION:
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), U.S. president. “Leaders of Men, An Address” (June 17, 1890).
In this quotation Wilson foresaw his own great struggle for the League of Nations.
