Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Unity
When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
Burke—Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontent.
I never use the word “nation” in speaking of the United States. I always use the word “Union” or “Confederacy.” We are not a nation but a union, a confederacy of equal and sovereign States.
J. C. Calhoun—To Oliver Dyer. Jan. 1, 1849.
The Constitution in all its provisions looks to an indestructible union composed of indestructible States.
Salmon P. Chase—Decision in Texas vs. White. See Werden’s Private Life and Public Services of Salmon P. Chase. P. 664.
Neque est ullum certius amicitiæ vinculum, quam consensus et societas consiliorum et voluntatum.
There is no more sure tie between friends than when they are united in their objects and wishes.
Cicero—Oratio Pro Cnœo Plancio. II.
Like two single gentlemen rolled into one.
Geo. Colman (the Younger)—Broad Grins. Lodgings for Single Gentlemen.
Then join in hand, brave Americans all!
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.
John Dickinson—The Liberty Song of 1768.
When our two lives grew like two buds that kiss
At lightest thrill from the bee’s swinging chime,
Because the one so near the other is.
George Eliot—Brother and Sister. Pt. I. St. 1.
We must all hang together or assuredly we shall all hang separately.
Benj. Franklin. To John Hancock. At Signing of the Declaration of Independence. July 4, 1776.
Entzwei’ und gebiete! Tüchtig Wort,
Verein’ und leite! Bess’rer Hort.
Divide and command, a wise maxim;
Unite and guide, a better.
Goethe—Sprüche in Reimen. L. 516.
Was uns alle bändigt, das Gemeine.
The universal subjugator, the commonplace.
Goethe—Taschenbuch für Damen auf das Jahr. 1806.
Our Union is river, lake, ocean, and sky:
Man breaks not the medal, when God cuts the die!
Though darkened with sulphur, though cloven with steel,
The blue arch will brighten, the waters will heal!
Holmes—Brother Jonathan’s Lament for Sister Caroline. St. 7.
There with commutual zeal we both had strove
In acts of dear benevolence and love;
Brothers in peace, not rivals in command.
Homer—Odyssey. Bk. IV. L. 241. Pope’s trans.
He that is not with me is against me.
Luke. XI. 23.
Then none was for a party;
Then all were for the state;
Then the great man helped the poor,
And the poor man loved the great:
Then lands were fairly portioned;
Then spoils were fairly sold:
The Romans were like brothers
In the brave days of old.
Macaulay—Lays of Ancient Rome. Horatius. St. 32.
Oh, shame to men! devil with devil damn’d
Firm concord holds, men only disagree
Of creatures rational.
Milton—Paradise Lost. Bk. II. L. 496.
The union of lakes—the union of lands—
The union of States none can sever—
The union of hearts—the union of hands—
And the flag of our Union for ever!
George P. Morris—The Flag of Our Union.
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.
Psalms. CXXXIII. 1.
Concordia res parvæ crescunt, discordia maximæ dilabantur.
By union the smallest states thrive, by discord the greatest are destroyed.
Sallust—Jugurtha. X.
Wir sind ein Volk, und einig wollen wir handeln.
We are one people and will act as one.
Schiller—Wilhelm Tell. II. 2. 258.
Seid einig—einig—einig.
Be united—united—united.
Schiller—Wilhelm Tell. IV. 2. 158.
So we grew together,
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
But yet a union in partition;
Two lovely berries moulded on one stem:
So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart;
Two of the first, like coats in heraldry,
Due but to one and crowned with one crest.
Midsummer Night’s Dream. Act III. Sc. 2. L. 208.
Auxilia humilia firma consensus facit.
Union gives strength to the humble.
Syrus—Maxims.
Their meetings made December June.
Their every parting was to die.
Tennyson—In Memoriam. XCVII.
Quo res cunque cadant, unum et commune periculum,
Una salus ambobus erit.
Whatever may be the issue we shall share one common danger, one safety.
Vergil—Æneid. II. 709.
Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.
Daniel Webster—Second Speech on Foote’s Resolution. Jan. 26, 1830.
One Country, one Constitution, one Destiny.
Daniel Webster—Speech. March 15, 1837.