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stand by principle at all hazards.
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“stand by principle at all hazards.”

Booker T. Washington

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Source
The Future of the American Negro
Date
1899
Meaning

Meaning of “stand by principle at all hazards.”

Washington distinguishes tactical cooperation from questions of right and wrong, where he advises maintaining principle despite possible cost.

Source context

Where does it come from?

The Future of the American Negro, Chapter VIII; Project Gutenberg #26507. This short excerpt appears in Washington’s closing policy discussion, where he distinguishes ordinary political cooperation from cases involving a question of right or wrong and advises standing by principle in those cases.

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Courage Quotes About Acting Despite FearDecisionIntegrityLeadershipResponsibilitySelf-Respect Quotes About Dignity & BoundariesShortCharacter
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The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.
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“The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.”

Henry David Thoreau · Civil Disobedience · 1849
Meaning & context

Thoreau places personal moral judgment ahead of automatic obedience, arguing that conscience creates an individual responsibility to decide whether one’s own action is right.

Source details

Civil Disobedience, first published in 1849 as 'Resistance to Civil Government'; reviewed in the public-domain Miscellanies transcription. The obligation-to-do-right sentence occurs early in Thoreau's argument contrasting conscience with automatic deference to majority rule and law. It remains historical political philosophy rather than current legal advice or a blanket instruction to violate law.

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I shall obey God rather than you.
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“I shall obey God rather than you.”

Plato · Apology · 4th century BCE
Voice: Dialogue speaker · Socrates
Meaning & context

Socrates presents moral and philosophical duty as more binding than compliance with pressure from political authority.

Source details

Apology, Jowett translation; Socrates says he would continue practicing philosophy even if acquittal were conditioned on silence.

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Let us have faith that right makes might.
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“Let us have faith that right makes might.”

Abraham Lincoln · Cooper Union Address · 1860
Meaning & context

Lincoln reverses the idea that power establishes right, arguing that moral judgment should guide sustained political action rather than treating strength or intimidation as proof of justice.

Source details

Cooper Union Address, February 27, 1860, closing passage. Lincoln is defending Republican opposition to the extension of slavery into federal territories; the line retains that antislavery political context.

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Let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and effectively.
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“Let us stand by our duty, fearlessly and effectively.”

Abraham Lincoln · Cooper Union Address · 1860
Meaning & context

Once a moral and political conclusion has been reached, Lincoln argues that intimidation and evasive compromise should not displace the duty that follows from that judgment.

Source details

Cooper Union Address, February 27, 1860. The sentence appears in Lincoln’s closing argument about opposing slavery’s spread and should not be detached into a context-free command about every disputed duty.

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