So long as we have held fast to voluntary principles and have been actuated and inspired by the spirit of service.
SAMUEL GOMPERSSo long as we have held fast to voluntary principles and have been actuated and inspired by the spirit of service.
SAMUEL GOMPERSNo lasting gain has ever come from compulsion.
SAMUEL GOMPERSOne fact stands out in bold relief in the history of man’s attempts for betterment. That is that when compulsion is used, only resentment is aroused, and the end is not gained. Only through moral suasion and appeal to man’s reason can a movement succeed.
SAMUEL GOMPERSThe freedom of speech and the freedom of the press have not been granted to the people in order that they may say things which please, and which are based upon accepted thought, but the right to say the things which displease.
SAMUEL GOMPERSShow me the country that has no strikes and I’ll show you the country in which there is no liberty.
SAMUEL GOMPERSTo make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful, and childhood more happy and bright.
SAMUEL GOMPERSDoing for people what they can and ought to do for themselves is a dangerous experiment.
SAMUEL GOMPERSLabor Day is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race or nation.
SAMUEL GOMPERSTo free him from the tyrannies, petty or otherwise, which served to make his existence a slavery.
SAMUEL GOMPERSOur movement is of the working people, for the working people, by the working people. . . .
SAMUEL GOMPERSSo long as there is one [person] who seeks employment and cannot find it, the hours of work are too long.
SAMUEL GOMPERSThe periods of unemployment accompanying depression in the business cycle . . . present a challenge to all our claims to progress, humanity, and civilization.
SAMUEL GOMPERSThere may be here and there a worker who for certain reasons unexplainable to us does not join a union of labor. That is his right. It is his legal right, no matter how morally wrong he may be. It is his legal right, and no one can or dare question his exercise of that legal right.
SAMUEL GOMPERSIn the last analysis, the welfare of the workers depends upon their own initiative. Whatever is done under the guise of philanthropy or social morality which in any way lessens initiative is the greatest crime that can be committed against the toilers.
SAMUEL GOMPERSNo human being is unimportant. My inspiration comes in opening opportunities that all alike may be free to live life to the fullest.
SAMUEL GOMPERSWorkingmen are at the foundation of society.
SAMUEL GOMPERS