The right to say the things which convey the new and yet unexpected thoughts, the right to say things, even though they do a wrong.
SAMUEL GOMPERSThe labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce.
More Samuel Gompers Quotes
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To free him from the tyrannies, petty or otherwise, which served to make his existence a slavery.
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No lasting gain has ever come from compulsion.
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In 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.
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Doing for people what they can and ought to do for themselves is a dangerous experiment.
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One 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.
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The periods of unemployment accompanying depression in the business cycle . . . present a challenge to all our claims to progress, humanity, and civilization.
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Show me the country that has no strikes and I’ll show you the country in which there is no liberty.
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There 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.
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Our mission has been the protection of the wage-worker, now; to increase his wages; to cut hours off the long workday, which was killing him; to improve the safety and the sanitary conditions of the workshop.
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So long as there is one [person] who seeks employment and cannot find it, the hours of work are too long.
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So long as we have held fast to voluntary principles and have been actuated and inspired by the spirit of service.
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There are such wonderful possibilities in the life of each man and woman!
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The trade union movement represents the organized economic power of the workers… It is in reality the most potent and the most direct social insurance the workers can establish.
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The man who has his millions will want everything he can lay his hands on and then raise his voice against the poor devil who wants ten cents more a day.
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No human being is unimportant. My inspiration comes in opening opportunities that all alike may be free to live life to the fullest.
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