text:
Talk:American benevolence

I suggest merging "for" and "against" sections and sorting alphabetically. Otherwise the question of "which comes first?" is likely to generate NPOV issues. ~ Peter1c (talk) 14:18, 29 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Yeah, just do alphabetical ordering. – Illegitimate Barrister, 12:40, 1 February 2016 (UTC)
 * On second thought, I don't know if this page should even exist. In my opinion, the quotes should be merged into other pages and this page turned into a redirect. – Illegitimate Barrister, 15:23, 21 February 2016 (UTC)
 * I suggest keeping the page since benevolence is not precisely the same as exceptionalism. ~ Peter1c (talk) 19:02, 28 July 2016 (UTC)

Quotes from sources not usually considered "notable" by Wikiquote editors

 * American-led free market capitalism has been the primary driver of the best economic and human rights situation the world has ever seen. We are living in the best of all possible times.
 * C. Zaharias, "If Osama Recommends It, What Does That Tell You?" (30 January 2006), Amazon

Quote
Storey has a quote that says "From the dawn of history the oppressor has always insisted that oppression was good for the oppressed." I don't see how that has anything to do with the topic of American Benevolence. And that's why it should be removed. --2001:8003:4085:8100:247D:4D7A:7DA4:F5AB 04:32, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
 * It's literally on the name of the source and stated in its Wikipedia page. Gain consensus and stop warring. Rupert Loup 04:36, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
 * the source is "The duty of the United States towards the Philippine Islands". This page is on American benevolence, not the duties between the United States and the Philippine Islands. --2001:8003:4085:8100:247D:4D7A:7DA4:F5AB 04:39, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
 * That source is about the American intervension by the US in the Philippines, the quote is about that. It's stated in the Wikipedia page. "he wrote a book brief for the Lodge Committee summarizing the war crimes of the Philippine–American War. From 1905 until its dissolution in 1921 Storey was president of the national Anti-Imperialist League. He perceived that "national subjugation overseas and racial persecution at home were related," which drove his efforts at reform in the United States." Againg, gaing consensus and stop warring. Rupert Loup 04:43, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
 * I didn't claim that Storey wasn't viewing his quote as "anti imperialist". My assertion is that Storey did not say this quote as having anything to do with the topic of American benevolence. You have not addressed this. --2001:8003:4085:8100:247D:4D7A:7DA4:F5AB 04:49, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
 * The lead of this page says otherwise and the burden to prove that is not is on you. Rupert Loup 05:04, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
 * my proof is this - the author doesn't talk about American benevolence in his essay. You have been unable to prove otherwise, and if you can't prove the author was talking about American benevolence then I will remove this quote. --2001:8003:4085:8100:247D:4D7A:7DA4:F5AB 05:34, 9 January 2020 (UTC)
 * since you have been unable to refute my initial contention I consider this matter resolved and I will be removing the quote. --2001:8003:4085:8100:247D:4D7A:7DA4:F5AB 05:55, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

The topic, and some off-topic quotes, April 27
The topic is "American benevolence," so claims that America is benevolent are on-topic as are claims that America is not benevolent. In Wikipedia, "American benevolence" simply redirects to "American exceptionalism."

Claims that Bush is a war criminal, rambling about "moral interventionist internationalism", and chuckling over America being racist -- they are not quotes ABOUT "American benevolence." I removed said following items, of which only the first is even a quotable quote. HouseOfChange (talk) 17:03, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

 * He is a war criminal. He brought about the war against Iraq deliberately, with lies and falsehoods.
 * Jörg Haider, June 17, 2006

 * Nevertheless Kosovo is not the only indicator of a change of mood, of the sort of moral interventionist internationalism which has come to be associated particularly with Tony Blair. ... in fact, after a quarter of a century of doing nothing, the 'international community' in precisely the same year as Kosovo did engineer the independence of East Timor.
 * Adrian Hastings, June 2001

 * Every time you talk about Vietnam, it's always — the Vietnam war is summarized this way, "58,000 American killed and anywhere between 2 and 3 million Vietnamese." There is a distinction between 2 and 3 million, but that's okay. I used to joke all the time — racism in America, is so endemic and so hard to see, but I was always — I used to joke that I was very proud of Bill Clinton because he was the first president, in Kosovo, the former Yugoslavia, since World War II to actually bomb white people.
 * Seymour Hersh, May 10, 2005

Deceptively edited George Kennan quote
In 1948, George Kennan wrote a secret memo of advice concerning post-War US diplomacy, which you can read in its entirety at WikiSource. One part of the memo is his advice about Asia. Kennan strongly advised against intervening in China's civil war. Truman took Kennan's advice and in 1949 the PRC was successfully established.

From Kennan's advice related to East Asia, a carefully selected portion has been used in several articles to give a false impression. Here's that edited bit, which I just removed.

"We have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population. ... In the face of this situation ... we should cease to talk about vague and ... unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization. ... The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better."

Now here's that edited bit with some context restored.

'''We must be very careful when we speak of exercising "leadership" in Asia. We are deceiving ourselves and others when we pretend to have answers to the problems, which agitate many of these Asiatic peoples. Furthermore, '''

we have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3 of its population.

''' This disparity is particularly great as between ourselves and the peoples of Asia. In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment... All of the Asiatic peoples are faced with the necessity for evolving new forms of life to conform to the impact of modern technology. This process of adaptation will also be long and violent. It is not only possible, but probable, that in the course of this process many peoples will fall, for varying periods, under the influence of Moscow, whose ideology has a greater lure for such peoples, and probably greater reality, than anything we could oppose to it. All this, too, is probably unavoidable; and we could not hope to combat it without the diversion of a far greater portion of our national effort than our people would ever willingly concede to such a purpose.'''

In the face of this situation

'''we would be better off to dispense now with a number of the concepts which have underlined our thinking with regard to the Far East. We should dispense with the aspiration to 'be liked' or to be regarded as the repository of a high-minded international altruism. We should stop putting ourselves in the position of being our brothers' keeper and refrain from offering moral and ideological advice.'''

We should cease to talk about vague

 — and for the Far East —

unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization.

 The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts.

The less we are hampered by idealistic slogans, the better.

The real context shows how the little bit taken from it is misleading. Kennan was not suggesting that the US should use its wealth to oppress the rest of the world without thought for morality. He was pointing out that US wealth did not give Truman the ability or the right to try to impose US values on the peoples of East Asia. HouseOfChange (talk) 17:31, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:American benevolence


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Philippine-American War

The Philippine-American War was a conflict between the armed forces of the United States and insurgent groups like in the Philippines from 1899 through 1913.

American Justification

 * President McKinley told Congress that his inspiration for invading the Philippines came in a dream from God. "Hold a moment longer! Not quite yet, gentlemen! Before you go I would like to say just a word about the Philippine business. I have been criticized a good deal about the Philippines, but don’t deserve it. The truth is I didn’t want the Philippines, and when they came to us, as a gift from the gods, I did not know what to do with them. When the Spanish War broke out Dewey was at Hongkong, and I ordered him to go to Manila and to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet, and he had to; because, if defeated, he had no place to refit on that side of the globe, and if the Dons were victorious they would likely cross the Pacific and ravage our Oregon and California coasts. And so he had to destroy the Spanish fleet, and did it! But that was as far as I thought then.

 * When I next realized that the Philippines had dropped into our laps I confess I did not know what to do with them. I sought counsel from all sides—Democrats as well as Republicans—but got little help. I thought first we would take only Manila; then Luzon; then other islands perhaps also. I walked the floor of the White House night after night until midnight; and I am not ashamed to tell you, gentlemen, that I went down on my knees and prayed Almighty God for light and guidance more than one night. And one night late it came to me this way—I don’t know how it was, but it came:
 * (1) That we could not give them back to Spain—that would be cowardly and dishonorable;
 * (2) that we could not turn them over to France and Germany—our commercial rivals in the Orient—that would be bad business and discreditable;
 * (3) that we could not leave them to themselves—they were unfit for self-government—and they would soon have anarchy and misrule over there worse than Spain’s was; and
 * (4) that there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize and Christianize them, and by God’s grace do the very best we could by them, as our fellow-men for whom Christ also died.
 * And then I went to bed, and went to sleep, and slept soundly, and the next morning I sent for the chief engineer of the War Department (our map-maker), and I told him to put the Philippines on the map of the United States (pointing to a large map on the wall of his office), and there they are, and there they will stay while I am President!--President William McKinley.

 * for American energy to build up such a commercial marine on the Pacific Coast as should ultimately convert the Pacific Ocean into an American lake, making it far more our own than the Atlantic Ocean is now Great Britain's
 * Whitelaw Reid, part of the commission sent to Paris to negotiate the Treaty of Paris to end the Spanish-American War.

Start of the war

 * "The fighting … was precipitated by … two native soldiers who refused to obey the order of a sentry who challenged their passage to his post.... They insolently refused to [halt] and continued to advance," so the sentry shot them.

 * " About eight o’clock, Miller and I were cautiously pacing our district. We came to a fence and were trying to see what the Filipinos were up to. Suddenly, near at hand, on our left, there was a low but unmistakable Filipino outpost signal whistle. It was immediately answered by a similar whistle about twenty-five yards to the right. Then a red lantern flashed a signal from blockhouse number 7. We had never seen such a sign used before. In a moment, something rose up slowly in front of us. It was a Filipino. I yelled “Halt!” and made it pretty loud, for I was accustomed to challenging the officer of the guard in approved military style. I challenged him with another loud “halt!” Then he shouted “halto!” to me. Well, I thought the best thing to do was to shoot him. He dropped. If I didn’t kill him, I guess he died of fright. Two Filipinos sprang out of the gateway about 15 feet from us. I called “halt!” and Miller fired and dropped one. I saw that another was left. Well, I think I got my second Filipino that time..."--Private William W. Grayson, with another soldier, encountered three armed Filipinos on a bridge in San Juan del Monte near Manila.

 * The U.S. troops were "expecting trouble and were glad to have an opportunity to square accounts with the natives, whose insolence of late was becoming intolerable."

 * "The slaughter at Manila was necessary, but not glorious. The entire American population justifies the conduct of its army at Manila because only by a crushing repulse of the Filipinos could our position be made secure....We are... the trustees of civilization and peace throughout the islands"...the "white man's burden" had been thrust on the United States by "the impotent oppression of Spain and the semi-barbarous conduct of the Philippines."

 * "fighting, having begun, must go on to the grim end." --General Elwell S. Otis response when Emilio Aguinaldo tried to stop the war by sending an emissary to General Otis to appeal for an end to the fighting.

American torture and atrocities against Filipinos
''See the extensive Anti-Imperalist summary of the findings of the Lodge Committee on wikisource. Listing many of the eyewitness accounts of the atrocities and the military and government reaction.''

Military officers

"I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn the better it will please me. I want all persons killed who are capable of bearing arms in actual hostilities against the United States.”  General Jacob H. Smith said.

Since it was a popular belief among the Americans serving in the Philippines that native males were born with bolos in their hands, Major Littleton "Tony" Waller asked "I would like to know the limit of age to respect, sir?."

"Ten years," General Jacob H. Smith said.

"Persons of ten years and older are those designated as being capable of bearing arms?" "Yes." General Jacob H. Smith confirmed his instructions a second time.

 * I personally strung up thirty-five Filipinos without trial, so what was all the fuss over Waller's "dispatching" a few "treacherous savages"? If there had been more Smiths and Wallers, the war would have been over long ago. Impromptu domestic hanging might also hasten the end of the war.  For starters, all Americans who had recently petitioned Congress to sue for peace in the Philippines should be dragged out of their homes and lynched.--Colonel Frederick Funston at a banquet in Chicago.

 * Major Edwin Glenn did not deny that he made forty-seven prisoners kneel and "repent of their sins" before ordering them bayoneted and clubbed to death.

 * "Obtain information from natives no matter what measures have to be adopted."--General Adna Chaffee

 * "It may be necessary to kill half the Filipinos in order that the remaining half of the population may be advanced to a higher plane of life than their present semi-barbarous state affords."--General William Shafter

 * "One-sixth of the natives of Luzon have either been killed or have died of the dengue fever in the last few years. The loss of life by killing alone has been very great, but I think not one man has been slain except where his death has served the legitimate purposes of war. It has been necessary to adopt what in other countries would probably be thought harsh measures."--General James Bell, May 3, 1901, New York Times explaining why one-sixth of the population of Luzon had died in the previous two years of the Philippine insurrection.

 * "I suppose that this dengue fever and the sickness which depopulated Batangas is the direct result of the war, and comes from the condition of starvation and bad food which the war has caused." --Senator George Hoar

Enlisted men
''Also see the wikisource page: Anti-Imperialist League pamplet: Soldiers' Letters Being Materials for the History of a War of Criminal Aggression publishing scores of letters from soldiers admitting atrocities.

 * "We take no prisoners. At least the Twentieth Kansas do not."--Arthur Minkler, of the Kansas Regiment

 * "They were the first goo-goos I ever saw turn white."--Claude F. Line, a young private, described not only his love of home and family, but also his delight at terrifying two Filipino civilians.

 * "It makes me sick to see what has been said about him (General Jacob H. Smith). If people knew what a thieving, treacherous, worthless bunch of scoundrels those Filipinos are, they would think differently than they do now. You can't treat them the way you do civilized folks. I do not believe that there are half a dozen men in the U.S. army that don't think Smith is all right."--Smith's medical officer

Politicians

 * "The severity with which the inhabitants have been dealt would not look well if a complete history of it were written out" --Governor-General of the Philippines, William Howard Taft, concerning the U.S. Army campaign on the island of Marinduque during the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902

 * "You have sacrificed nearly seventeen thousand American lives—the flower of our youth. You have devastated provinces. You have slain uncounted thousands of the people you desire to benefit. You have established reconcentration camps. Your generals are coming home from their harvest bringing sheaves with them, in the shape of other thousands of sick and wounded and insane to drag out miserable lives, wrecked in body and mind. You make the American flag in the eyes of a numerous people the emblem of sacrilege in Christian churches, and of the burning of human dwellings, and of the horror of the water torture. Your practical statesmanship which disdains to take George Washington and Abraham Lincoln or the soldiers of the Revolution or of the Civil War as models, has looked in some cases to Spain for your example. I believe—nay, I know—that in general our officers and soldiers are humane. But in some cases they have carried on your warfare with a mixture of American ingenuity and Castilian cruelty. Your practical statesmanship has succeeded in converting a people who three years ago were ready to kiss the hem of the garment of the American and to welcome him as a liberator, who thronged after your gay men when they landed on those islands with benediction and gratitude, into sullen and irreconcilable enemies, possessed of a hatred which centuries can not eradicate." --Senator George Hoar. From a speech in the United States Senate in May, 1902 chastising the Philippine-American War and the three Army officers, including General Jacob H. Smith who were court-martialed.

 * "You never hear of any disturbances in Northern Luzon; and the secret of its pacification is, in my opinion, the secret of the pacification of the archipelago. They never rebel in Northern Luzon because there isn't anybody there to rebel. The country was marched over and cleaned out in a most resolute manner. The good Lord in heaven only knows the number of Filipinos that were put under ground. Our soldiers took no prisoners, they kept no records; they simply swept the country, and, wherever or whenever they could get hold of a Filipino, they killed him. The women and children were spared, and may now be noticed in disproportionate numbers in that part of the island."--From a Republican Congressman, who visited the Philippines during the summer of 1901 Boston Transcript, March 4, 1902

 * "Until recently, I had thought that these things (torture) were sporadic and isolated, but I have been forced to the belief that they are but a part of the general plan of campaign." --Senator Joseph Lafayette Rawlins of Utah Philippine Question Up In The Senate, New York Times May 7, 1902 p. 3

Newspaper reporters

 * The present war is no bloodless, fake, opera bouffe engagement; our men have been relentless, have killed to exterminate men, women, children, prisoners and captives, active insurgents and suspected people from lads of ten up, the idea prevailing that the Filipino as such was little better than a dog, a noisome reptile in some instances, whose best disposition was to the rubbish heap. Our soldiers have pumped salt water into men to make them talk, and have taken prisoners people who held up their hands and peacefully surrendered, and an hour later, without an atom of evidence to show that they were even insurrectors, stood them on a bridge and shot them down one by one, to drop into the water below and float down, as examples to those who found their bullet-loaded corpses. It is not civilized warfare, but we are not dealing with civilized people. The only thing they know and fear is force, violence, and brutality, and we give it to them.
 * A reporter for the Philadelphia Ledger, Nov. 19, 1900 Later in the article he stipulated that such tactics were necessary and long overdue.

 * In some sections our people have adopted the policy of giving no quarter, and we are getting reports of insurgent bands of from ten to fifty being surrounded and every man killed. Young had one killing of 318 lately, and J. M. Bell a killing of 156, while there have been several ranging from 50 to 100.
 * New York Evening Post reporter

 * "The time has come, in the opinion of those in charge of the War Department, to pursue a policy of absolute and relentless subjugation in the Philippine Islands. If the natives refuse to submit to the process of government as mapped out by the Taft Commission, they will be hunted down and will be killed until there is no longer any show of forcible resistance to the American government. The process will not be pleasant, but it is considered necessary."--Boston Advertiser

Contemporary commentary

 * "In many letters there is an eerie contrast between the writers' disregard for the slaughter of Filipino goo-goos and their concern for the health of their parents and friends. William Eggenberger described with boyish glee an incident in which he and a fellow private had terrorized the inhabitants of a nipa hut by sticking their bayonets through the side of the house. He then concluded his letter with the request: "Don't you and the old man work so hard all the time… hoping these lines will find you all in the best of health, a kiss for you all."--Richard E. Welch, Jr., a professor of history at Lafayette College

Water torture

 * "The water cure is an old Filipino method of mild torture. Nobody was seriously damaged whereas the Filipinos had inflicted incredible tortures on our people." --President Theodore Roosevelt

 * "A man is thrown down on his back and three or four men sit or stand on his arms and legs and hold him down; and either a gun barrel or a rifle barrel or a carbine barrel or a stick as big as a belaying pin, -- that is, with an inch circumference, -- is simply thrust into his jaws and his jaws are thrust back, and, if possible, a wooden log or stone is put under his head or neck, so he can be held more firmly. In the case of very old men I have seen their teeth fall out, -- I mean when it was done a little roughly. He is simply held down and then water is poured onto his face down his throat and nose from a jar; and that is kept up until the man gives some sign or becomes unconscious. And, when he becomes unconscious, he is simply rolled aside and he is allowed to come to. In almost every case the men have been a little roughly handled. They were rolled aside rudely, so that water was expelled. A man suffers tremendously, there is no doubt about it. His sufferings must be that of a man who is drowning, but cannot drown. … I did not stop it, because I had no right to.... Major Geary was about sixty yards away. --Lieutenant Grover Flint; S. Doc. 331, 57 Congressional 1 Session (1903), page 1767-1768

 * "A company of Macabebes enter a town or barrio, catch some man, -- it matters not whom, -- ask him if he knows where there are any guns, and, upon receiving a negative answer, five or six of them throw him down, one holds his head, while others have hold of an arm or a leg. They then proceed to give him the "water torture," which is the distension of the internal organs with water. After they are distended, a cord is sometimes placed around the body and the water expelled. From what I have heard, it appears to be generally applied; and its use is not confined to our section. Although it results in the finding of a number of guns, it does us an infinite amount of harm. Nor are the Macabebes the only ones who use this method of obtaining information. Personally, I have never seen this torture inflicted, nor have I ever knowingly allowed it; but I have seen a victim a few minutes afterward, with his mouth bleeding where it had been cut by a bayonet used to hold the mouth open, and his face bruised where he had been struck by the Macabebes. Add to this the expression of his face and his evident weakness from the torture, and you have a picture which once seen will not be forgotten. I am not chickenhearted, but this policy hurts us. Summary executions are, and will be, necessary in a troubled country, and I have no objection to seeing that they are carried out; but I am not used to torture. The Spaniards used the torture of water, throughout the islands, as a means of obtaining information; but they used it sparingly, and only when it appeared evident that the victim was culpable. Americans seldom do things by halves. We come here and announce our intention of freeing the people from three or four hundred years of oppression, and say, "We are strong, and powerful, and grand." Then to resort to inquisitorial methods, and use them without discrimination, is unworthy of us, and will recoil on us as a nation."--George Kennan

 * "We have a company of Macabebe scouts who go out with white troops, and, if they cannot get any guns voluntarily, they proceed to give the fellows the water cure; that is, they throw them on their backs, stick a gag in their months to keep it open, then proceed to fill them with water till they cannot hold more. Then they get on them, and a sudden pressure on the stomach and chest forces the water out again. I guess it must cause excruciating agony."--Unnamed officer

Opposition to the war in the United States
See the famous Senator George Frisbie Hoar speech against the war on wikisource.org.

 * "When Andrew Carnegie protested that shooting Filipinos would destroy the Republic, Secretary of State John Hay observed, 'He does not seem to reflect that the government is in a somewhat robust condition even after shooting down several American workers in his interest at Homestead.'"

 * "I would gladly pay twenty million today to restore our republic to its first principles."--Andrew Carnegie, explaining why he would buy the Philippines from the United States in order to give the islands their independence.

 * "To be popular is easy; to be right when right is unpopular, is noble... I repudiate with scorn the immoral doctrine, 'Our country, right or wrong.'"--Andrew Carnegie

 * "The Kingdom of Heaven is to come as a grain of mustard seed, not as a thirteen-inch shell."--The Rev. H.P. Faunce, Baptist minister.

 * "Extending the Blessings of Civilization to our Brother who Sits in Darkness has been a good trade and has paid well, on the whole; and there is money in it yet, if carefully worked--but not enough, in my judgment, to make any considerable risk advisable. The People that Sit in Darkness are getting to be too scarce--too scarce and too shy. And such darkness as is now left is really of but an indifferent quality, and not dark enough for the game. The most of those People that Sit in Darkness have been furnished with more light than was good for them or profitable for us. We have been injudicious... Is it, perhaps, possible that there are two kinds of Civilization--one for home consumption and one for the heathen market?"--Mark Twain, "To the Person Sitting in Darkness"

 * "God damn the U.S. for its vile conduct... We can destroy their [Filipino] ideals but we can't give them ours."--William James, on American annexation of the Philippines and the guerrilla war it engendered.

 * "If we turn this war, which was heralded to the world as a war of humanity, in any sense into a war of conquest, we shall forever forfeit the confidence of mankind."--Carl Schurz, reform journalist and senator

 * "The United States has lost her unique position as a leader in the progress of civilization and has taken up her place simply as one of the grasping and selfish nations of the present day."--Charles Eliot Norton

 * "They rely mostly on large sales, and for large sales on sensational news. Now nothing does so much to keep sensational news coming in over the considerable period of time as war... Next to war they welcome the Promise of war."--E.L. Godkin, editor of The Nation

 * "The Cost of a National Crime," "The Hell of War and Its Penalties," "Criminal Aggression"--titles of three pamphlets sent by Edward Atkinson, a founder of the Anti-Imperialist League, to American troops in the field in the Philippines, as a test of free speech. Postmaster Charles Smith declared the pamphlets "seditious" and had them removed from the mail.

 * "If all these imaginings are in vain, and our success is a rapid and bloodless one as the most sanguine can hope, such a victory is more dangerous than defeat. In the intoxication of such a success, we would reach out for fresh territory, and to our present difficulties would be added an agitation for the annexation of new regions which, unfit to govern themselves, would govern us. We would be fairly launched upon a policy of military aggression, of territorial expansion, of standing armies and growing navies, which is inconsistent with the continuance of our institutions. God grant that such calamities are not in store for us."--Moorfield Storey, president of the Anti-Imperialist League

 * "It's time to let the Philippines go. They're our -- they are our Achilles heel." --Theodore Roosevelt, 1914.

Support for the war in the United States

 * "Finally, it should be the earnest wish and paramount aim of the military administration to win the confidence, respect, and affection of the inhabitants of the Philippines by assuring them in every possible way that full measure of individual rights and liberties which is the heritage of free peoples, and by proving to them that the mission of the United States is one of Benevolent Assimilation substituting the mild sway of justice and right for arbitrary rule." --William McKinley, December 21, 1898

 * "Whether we like it or not, we most go on slaughtering the natives... and taking what muddy glory lies in wholesale killing til they have learned to respect our arms. The more difficult task of getting them to respect our intentions will follow. The struggle must continue until the misguided creatures there shall have eyes bathed in enough blood to cause their vision to be cleared, but that those whom they are now holding as enemies have no purpose toward them expect to consecrate to liberty and to open for them a way to happiness."

 * "Whether we like it or not, we must go on slaughtering the natives... and taking what muddy glory lies in wholesale killing til they have learned to respect our arms. The more difficult task of getting them to respect our intentions will follow."

 * "It is against the interests of the United States to have the fruits of Dewey's victory gathered by insurgents.... No native dictatorship or so-called republic is wanted until the United States fixes on its Philippine policy When a flag replaces the blood-and-fear ensign of Spain, it should be our flag. Afterward there will be enough time to discuss native problems."

 * "The patriots of a year ago have become savages to be treated after the manner of savages . . . more power to the Krag-Jorgensen rifle that does the treating."

 * "Where the Filipinos have destroyed millions of dollars worth of property, our soldiers have saved many millions of dollars worth, besides many lives, by fighting the fires set by the direction of the Filipino army"

 * “The Philippines are ours forever.... And just beyond the Philippines are China’s illimitable markets. We will not retreat from either. We will not repudiate our duty in the archipelago. We will not abandon our opportunity in the Orient. We will not renounce our part in the mission of our race, trustee under God, of the civilization of the world. The Pacific is our ocean... . Where shall we turn for consumers of our surplus? Geography answers the question. China is our natural customer...The Philippines give us a base at the door of all die East...No land in America surpasses in fertility the plains and valleys of Luzon. Rice and coffee, sugar and cocoanuts, hemp and tobacco...The wood of the Philippines can supply the furniture of the world for a century to come. At Cebu the best informed man on die island told me that 40 miles of Cebu's mountain chain are practically mountains of coal...I have a nugget of pure gold picked up in its present form on the banks of a Philippine creek...My own belief is that there are not 100 men among them who comprehend what Anglo-Saxon self-government even means, and there arc over 5,000,000 people to be governed. It has been charged that our conduct of the war has been cruel. Senators, it has been the reverse...Senators must remember that we are not dealing with Americans or Europeans. We are dealing with Orientals.”--Senator Albert J. Beveridge January 9, 1900 See | wikisource.org for Beveridge's full speech.

Profit as a factor in American motivations

 * We make no hypocritical pretense of being interested in the Philippines solely on account of others. While we regard the welfare of these people as a sacred trust, we regard the welfare of the American people first. We see our duty to ourselves as well as to others. We believe in trade expansion.
 * Senator Henry Cabot Lodge

 * “The guns of Dewey in Manilla Bay were heard across Asia and Africa, they echoed through the palace at Peking and brought to the Oriental mind a new and potent force among western nations. We, in common with the countries of Europe, are striving to enter the limitless markets of the east...These people respect nothing but power. I believe the Philippines will be enormous markets and sources of wealth.”--Columbus and Western Civilization by Howard Zinn

 * "There was nothing wrong with the profit motive and gain should be the only reason for American expansion into the Pacific."

 * Andrew Carnegie argued that formal empires were obsolete because economic penetration could achieve control over foreign lands without the cost and conquest of administration.

 * "The peaceful conquest of Mexico was a perfectly legitimate form of expansion. We could fill all of the tropical countries with consular agents, men trained to stand for good order and to work for American interests, for less than it costs to subdue a single tropical island
 * David Starr Jordan The Control of the Tropics, Guton's Magazine 8 (1890): 408-410;

Race in relation to the conflict

 * That we have inspired a considerable part of the Philippine population with a feeling of intense hostility toward us, and given them reason for deep-seated and implacable resentment, there can be no doubt. We have offered them many verbal assurances of benevolent intention; but, at the same time, we have killed their unresisting wounded, we hold fifteen hundred or two thousand of them in prison, we have established at Guam a penal colony for their leaders, and we are now resorting directly or indirectly to the old Spanish inquisitorial methods such as the "water torture" in order to compel silent prisoners to speak or reluctant witnesses to testify...that they present generations of Filipinos will forget these things is hardly to be expected.--Journalist George Kennan (a staunch imperialist)

 * "The United States at the present moment is not, technically, engaged in any war. But it is engaged in the warlike enterprise of putting down what is technically an insurrection—a large baffling one. It seems strange to Americans that Filipinos--or so many of them--are bitterly opposed to our sovereignty. They must know it is likely to be a great improvement over former conditions...Nevertheless they fight on."

Racism in the conflict
See also: "The White Man's Burden".

 * "Questions of conscience need not trouble us...Here are rich lands, held by those who do not or cannot get the best out of them, and awaiting the fructifying application of capital and organization in commerce. Under this beneficent view the natives, an inferior race, must get out or become laborers. "The Filipino is an incumbrance to be got rid of, unless he accepts the mandates of a purchasing and a conquering power."--Worthington C. Ford

 * "There is no question that our men do 'shoot niggers' somewhat in the sporting spirit, but that is because war and their environments have rubbed off the thin veneer of civilization...Undoubtedly, they do not regard the shooting of Filipinos just as they would the shooting of white troops. This is partly because they are "only niggers," and partly because they despise them for their treacherous servility...The soldiers feel they are fighting with savages, not with soldiers."--H.L. Wells New York Evening Post.

 * "Our troops in the Philippines...look upon all Filipinos as of one race and condition, and being dark men, they are therefore 'niggers,' and entitled to all the contempt and harsh treatment administered by white overlords to the most inferior races."--Boston Herald correspondent in the Philippines.

 * "The unfortunate misunderstanding between American and Filipino," was explained with an allegory about a man, a boy, and an apple. When the man sees the fruit just out of the boy's reach, he first gives the youth a boost, but then decides to grab the fruit for himself. When the boy fights for the apple, he gets only a spanking for his trouble. "From the Filipino point of view that is about the situation of Aguinaldo and his followers with reference to the Americans. They actually thought … that they would be able to maintain their own independence."

 * "Malays [of the Philippines] are by no means savages, though their place on the scale of civilization is far from high."

 * "According to one of their priests, "they are big children, who must be treated as little ones."

 * "Today the torrid zone is a belt of semibarbarism. Its inhabitants resist the civilization of the temperate zones instinctively, because they know they have not the mental and moral fiber to uphold it.... Climate and costless sustenance have made these people what they are, and no great intellectual and industrial advance can be expected until the conditions are changed."

 * How "strange" it was that "such an easy, slumbering, happy-go-lucky race … should have such turbulent politics." No one in the Philippines except the Japanese had "the least idea of how to make machinery do the work of man." --Unnamed American Merchant

 * "However lacking in intelligence the natives of the Philippines generally may be, they could not in truth be characterized as savages.... The islands' leading tribe, the Tagals are as industrious as the Chinese and Japanese, and more easily controlled and less annually disposed than the latter."

 * "Orderly children, respected parents, women subject but not oppressed, men ruling but not despotic, reverence with kindness, obedience in affection...these simple, orderly people … ought to be very happy under the enlightened rule of a European power."

 * "our continental optimism is vigorous enough to cross oceans and ignore racial boundaries . . . . The press of the Country has not refrained from pointing out that as a people we are equal to any demands that may be put on us."

 * Filipinos are "treacherous, arrogant, stupid and vindictive, impervious to gratitude, incapable of recognizing obligations. Centuries of barbarism have made them cunning and dishonest. We cannot safely treat them as equals, for the simple and sufficient reason that they could not understand it. They do not know the meaning of justice and good faith. They do not know the difference between liberty and license.... These Filipinos must be taught obedience and be forced to observe, even if they cannot comprehend, the practices of civilization."

 * "The trouble is not what [U.S. negotiators] propose, but to whom they propose it. They have treated, as a government capable of negotiation, a bedizened ragtag and bobtail.... The deference with which these people have been received, the long conferences in which their "views" have been seriously entertained and discussed, the grandeur in which they have been allowed to parade before their compatriots--all these have inflated their simian vanity." (The definition of "simian" is relating to, characteristic of, or resembling an ape or a monkey.)

 * "the American soldier viewed his Filipino enemies with contempt because of their short stature and color. Contempt was also occasioned by the refusal of the Filipino 'to fight fair'- to stand his ground and be shot down like a man. When the Filipino adopted guerrilla tactics, it was because he was by his very nature half-savage and half-bandit. His practice of fighting with a bolo on one day and assuming the guise of a peaceful villager on the next proved his depravity."--Richard E. Welch, Jr., a professor of history at Lafayette College

Respect

 * "In my opinion, these people are far superior in their intelligence and more capable of self-government than the natives of Cuba, and I am familiar with both races."--George Dewey

The more things change…
(Similarities between the 1900 election, the mood of the country, and Philippine-American War in contrast to the 2004 election, the contemporary mood of the country and the Iraq War)

Rumors of draft and low military volunteer rate

 * "A better index of war-weariness than poor protest turnouts might have been the low enlistment rate for a third wave of volunteers as the second one approached its eighteenth month of service. The rate was low enough to foster rumors of pending conscription (a draft). The Reverend…Berle, a pacifist and anti-imperialist, actively spread the alarm of peacetime draft."

Jennings' Defeat

 * "[1900 Democratic presidential candidate] Colonel William Jennings Bryan anti-imperialism was never very convincing, and as the campaign unfolded, the issue [of imperialism] was increasingly ignored."

Criticism of those opposed to the war
Critics characterized the Anti-imperialists League leaders as “unhung traitors”, the commander of the New York chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic demanded that all League members be stripped of their citizenship and “denied the protection of the flag they dishonor.

 * "Why should Chicago tolerate a conference of anti-imperialist traitors any more than it should tolerate a convention of acknowledged incendiaries or anarchists?"

 * "Anti-imperialists League should send rifles, Maxim guns and ammunition to the Filipinos so that it would, at least be more openly and frankly treasonable."

 * "What would have happened during the Civil War if a public meeting had been held...to cheer Jeff Davis and denounce Lincoln as a murderer?"

 * "I will not say that the men who are encouraging the Filipino soldiers here are traitors to their country, but I will say, and I think with justice, that the men who are shooting from ambush there are allies in the same cause, and both are enemies to the interest and credit of our country."--Secretary of War Elihu Root

 * "What said Lawton-Lawton, Indiana's pride? "If I am shot down by a Filipino bullet it might as well come from one of my own men because the continuance of the fighting is chiefly due to reports that are sent out from America." Who will wear this on his forehead, the everlasting brand which Lawton's words burn? I am merely stating the truth...I state the facts. The defeat of the opposition to the government here is the defeat of the opposition to the government there." --Senator Albert Beveridge

Roosevelt in the war

 * Bryan deserted his regiment to run for office whereas Roosevelt left his office to rush into battle.
 * Senator Orville Platt San Fransisco Call October 6, 1900

 * The country needs selfless leaders like Teddy, who left office to be in the thick of the fight and not the other way around."

Rules of war don't apply in the Philippines

 * Since guerrilla warfare was contrary to "the customs and usages of war," those engaged in it "divest themselves of the character of soldiers, and if captured are not entitled to the privileges of prisoners of war."--General Arthur MacArthur, December 20, 1900

title: Philippine-American War


text:
Ja'far al-Sadiq

Ja‘far ibn Muhammad as-Sādiq (700 or 702–765 CE) (Arabic: جعفر ابن محمد الصادق ), was a theologian, jurist as well as the sixth Twelver and Mustaali Shī‘ah Imām, and the fifth Nizari Imam. His rulings are the basis of the Ja‘farī school of Shī‘ah jurisprudence (fiqh); but he is well respected by both Shī‘as and Sunnis. He is the direct descendant of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islām

General Quotes

 * Be careful to have truthful friends and try to obtain them, for they are your support when you are in welfare, and your advocator when you have misfortune.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.74, p. 187

 * Immorality and surliness makes the human's life miserable and bitter.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 392

 * There are three things that signify the magnanimity of a person: good temper, patience, and to avoid aggressive gaze.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.78, p. 232

 * Whenever the mind of a person is rectified, he becomes strong and powerful in appearance.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.78, p. 208

 * Paying visits to ones own relatives prolongs the life of a person and prevents poverty and indigence.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.74, p. 58

 * The person who is aware of the present situations of his time, will never get involved with falsifying and wrongdoing.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol.1, p. 31

 * Having the foresight to plan to earn a living, is half of the peace and leisure in life.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.78, p. 204

General

 * One who does not use his intelligence will not succeed and one who does not use his knowledge will have no intellect. One who understands will attain nobility and excellence, and one who is tolerant will triumph. Knowledge is a shield (against evil), truth begets honour and ignorance disgrace, understanding is distinction, generosity is salvation and good manners command love and respect.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī - The Book of Intellect and Ignorance.

 * A learned person among ignorant people, is like a live person among the dead.
 * Shaykh al-Mufīd, Al-Amali, p. 40

 * To acquire knowledge is neccessary at all times.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.1, p. 172

 * Write knowledge since you can’t memorize unless with writing. Heart confides to the written.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.1, p. 202

 * Everything has its tax and the tax of knowledge is to teach its people.
 * Eighth Infallible Sayings: Golden sayings of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (AS)

 * Being cheerful and affable with people is by itself half of wisdom.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.76, p. 60

 * It makes no sense at all if people consider the one who lacks knowledge and science as a prosperous person.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 382

 * The person who associates with scholars, will have his reputation exalted.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.78, p. 202

 * There are two kinds of scholars: those who act on their knowledge, these are the saved ones; and those who do not put into practise what they know, these are led to their downfall.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol.1, p. 55

 * Precision, accuracy and pondering in wisdom and sciences, will nourish and develop a person's brain.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.78, p. 247

Religious Wisdom

 * Seek Knowledge and adorn it with forbearance and dignity. Be humble to those whom you teach and to those from whom you learn. Don't be tyrannical in your teaching conduct, for you will forfeit that to which you are entitled to (the reward) on account of it.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī - The Book of the Merits of Knowledge.
 * The believers have four signs: good humor, tactfulness, kind heartedness and openhandedness
 * Muhammad al-Hur al-Aamili, Wasā'il al-Shī‘ah, vol.6, p. 321

 * A sin that accelerates death and annihilation of man is breaking off paying visits to one's own relatives.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.74, p. 94

 * My words are the words of my father, and the words of my father are the words of my grandfather, and the words of my grandfather are the words of my great-grandfathers - Hasan and Husayn; and their words are the words of Ali, and the words of Ali are the words of the Prophet of Allah; and the words of the Prophet are the words of Allah.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī - The Book of Intellect and Ignorance. Ch.17

 * The basis of religion is our affection for the household of the holy Prophet.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.78, p. 183

 * Everything has a foundation, and the foundation of Islām is our affection for the household of our Prophet.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol.3, p. 77

 * As for ‘Alī ibn Husayn (a), he cried over Husayn (a) for twenty years (after the tragedy of Karbalā); never would any food be placed before him except that he would begin to weep.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.46, p. 108

 * God has appionted to the grave of Imām Husayn (a), four thousand anguished and grief-stricken angels, who weep over him (and shall continue to do so) up until the Day of Judgment.
 * Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn Qulawayh, Kāmil al-Ziyarat, p. 119

 * Seventy thousand angels worship near the grave of Imām Husayn (a). The prayer (salah) of one of them, is equal to a thousand prayers of mankind. The reward of this prayer is for the visitors of Imām Husayn's (a) grave. The curse of God, His angels and all mankind is forever upon the killers of Imām Husayn (a).
 * Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn Qulawayh, Kāmil al-Ziyarat, ch.42, p. 393

 * The one who visits the grave of Imām Husayn (a) knowing his right (of Imāmat), then it is as if he has done the Ziyārat of God on the ‘Arsh (throne).
 * Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn Qulawayh, Kāmil al-Ziyarat, ch.71, p. 192

Views on free will

 * "O God, thine is the praise that I give thee, and to thee is the excuse if I sin against thee. There is no work of merit on my own behalf or on behalf of another, and in evil there is no excuse for me or for another."
 * When a man asked him whether God coerced his bondsmen to sin. Al-Sadiq replied "Allah is more just than to make them commit misdeeds then chastise them for what they have done." The man further asked, "Has he empowered them with their actions?" al-Sadiq said, "If He had delegated it to them, He would have not confined them to enjoining good and forbidding evil." The man further asked, "Is there a station or a position between the two?" The Imam said, "Yes, wider than [the space] between the heaven and the earth."

Theological views
When Abu Basir asked him about God and that whether believers see Him on the Day of Resurrection, he answered, "Yes, and they have already seen Him before the Day of Resurrection." Abu Basir asked, "When ?" al-Sadiq replied, "When He said to them, Am I not your Lord? They said: Yea, verily."(Quran, 7:172) Then he was quiet for a time. Then said,"Truly the believers see him in this world before the Day of Resurrection. Doest thou not see Him now?" Abu Basir then said to him, "That I might be made thy sacrifice! Shall I relate this (to others) from thee?" He answered, "No, for if thou relatest it, a denier ignorant of the meaning of what thou sayest will deny it. Then he will suppose that it is comparison and unbelief. But seeing with the heart is not like seeing with the eyes. High be God exalted above what the compares and heretics describe!"

Tafsir
The following is a interpretation of a quranic verse based on other verses of Quran. It concerns an incident where he spoke to a man who stole two loaves of bread and two pomegranates in order to give them to a sick person. Al-Sadiq himself relates this narration:

 * "Then I (al- Sadiq) asked him (the thief) about his act. He said: 'perhaps, you are Ja'far b. Mohammed?' 'Yes,' I said. He said to me:'What does your noble origin avail you while you are ignorant?' 'Which verse of the Quran am I ignorant at?' I asked. He said these Words of Allah, the Great and Almighty:Whoever brings a good deed, he shall have ten like it, and whoever brings and evil deed he shall be recompensed only with the like of it.(Quran, 6:160) 'When I stole the two loaves of bread, they were two evil deeds. And When I stole the two pomegranates, they were two evil deeds, too. So these are four evil deeds. When I gave each one of them as alms, Allah has subtracted 4 evil deeds from 40 good deeds. So, I have 36 good deeds.' I (al- Sâdiq) said: 'May your mother loses you! It is you who are ignorant at the Book of Allah. Have you not heard that Allah said: (Allah) accepts-(deeds) from the pious only.(Quran, 5:27) When you stole the two loaves of bread, they were two evil deeds. And when you stole the two pomegranates, they were two evil deeds, too. And when you gave them to other than their owner without the permission of their owner, you have added four evil deeds to the four evil deeds, and you have not added four evil deeds to forty good deeds. So, he began looking at me. Then I left him and went away."

About

 * I heard Layth ibn Saad say, "I went on pilgrimage in the year 113AH/731 CE. After I performed the afternoon prayer, I was reading some verses of the Holy Quran when I saw someone sitting beside me invoking God saying, "Ya Allah, Ya Allah..." repeatedly until he lost his breath. He then continued by saying, "Ya Hayy, Ya Hayy" until his breath was again lost. He then raised his hands and said, "O God, I have the desire to eat grapes, O God give me some. And my robe is becoming so old and tattered. Please, O God grant me a new one.
 * He had hardly finished his words before a basket of grapes appeared in front of him while at that time there were no grapes in season. Beside the basket of grapes there appeared two cloaks more beautiful than I had ever seen before. I said, "O my partner let me share with you." He said, "How are you a partner?" I replied, "You were praying and I saying "amin". Than Iam Jafar said, "Then come and eat with me," and he gave me one of the two cloaks. Then he walked off until he met a man who said, "O son of the Prophet, cover me because I have nothing but these tattered garments to cover me." He immediately gave him the cloak that he had just received. I asked that man, "Who is that?" He replied, "That is the great imam, Jafar as-Sadiq." I ran after him to find but but he had disappeared.
 * Imam at-Tabari, as quoted in Classical Islam and Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition by Muhammad Hisham Kabbani p. 125

title: Ja'far al-Sadiq


text:
Muhammad al-Baqir

Muhammad ibn ‘Alī al-Bāqir (676 - 743 AD) (Arabic: محمد ابن علي الباقر ), was the fifth Twelver Shī‘ah Imām, grandson of Husayn, and second generation grandson of Muhammad. He was given the title "Baqir al-‘Ulūm" ("revealer / splitter of knowledge and wisdom"), due to his ample knowledge of religion and his enthusiasm to teach to other people. Muhammad al-Baqir became a teacher, and he is remembered for his knowledge in both religious and judicial matters. His son, Jafar al-Sadiq was also a student of his.

Quotes

 * Take the good speech from whoever said it even if his practice was not accordingly.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.75, p. 170

 * The parable of a man greedy of this world is the parable of the silk worm: the more it winds the thread round itself the farther it becomes from salvation, until it dies of grief.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī - Book of Faith and Infidelity, vol.3, p. 202 & vol.2, p. 316

 * Being sociable and affable with people brings kindness and friendship.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 306

 * There is no strength higher than overcoming carnal desire.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.75, p. 165

 * How beautiful it is when goodness succeeds badness; and how unappealing it is when evil succeeds goodness.

 * Learn knowledge and science from him who teaches it, even if he doesn't practice what he preaches.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 299

 * There is no pain worse than ignorance and lack of intelligence.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 165

 * Opposition of one's desires is the sign of the highest level of wisdom in a human being.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.78, p. 164

 * On the Day of Judgement, God will interrogate people according to the wisdom he has granted them.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.1, p. 106

 * Knowledge and science is the fruit of paradise; in times of threat it is one's ally, in exile it keeps one company, and in solitude it is one's intimate friend and companion.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.78, p. 55

 * The person who teaches one chapter of guidance to the people will have a reward similar to all those who would act upon it, and nothing would be lessened or subtracted from the reward of those who practise it; and the one who teaches a chapter of misguidance, he will have the burden similar to each one who acts upon it, and nothing will be lessened from their burden of sin.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 297

 * The virtue of knowledge is more lovable with Allah than the virtue of worship. The best (thing) in your religion is piety.
 * Al-Khisal, p. 4

 * Consider the world as an abode where in you have dropped down for an hour, then you have got to leave it and go ahead; or (suppose it is) like the wealth which you lay hands upon in a dream and become over-joyed and glad. Then you wake up to find yourself empty handed.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 287

 * Whoevers tongue utters the truth, his practise becomes purified; and the one whose intention is decent and good, his sustenance increases; and whoever adopts good attitude and decent behavior with his family, his life span lengthens.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 295

 * Three things destroy a man: considering his own deeds to be really great, forgetting the sins that have been committed, considering his own opinion to be the highest.
 * Al Khisaal. vol.1, p. 112

 * Fasting is a shield against (hell) fire. Charity and dole remove and finish sin, as does the remembrance of God in the midnight.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol.2, p. 23

 * The scholar whose knowledge is made use of and benefited from, is worthier and more virtuous than seventy thousand worshippers and adorers.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 294

 * Beware of sluggishness, annoyance and impatience, since they are the keys of all the evils. The person who commits sluggishness and slackness never at all discharges any rights (obligations); and the one who gets annoyed and restless, does never at all remain patient over the right (God's decree on him).
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 295

 * Indeed, the most terrifically sorry of all the people on the day of resurrection, will be the servant who defines and shows the way of justice to the people, while he himself opposes it.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 298

 * Being religious equals being extremely loving, and being extremely loving equals being religious.

 * Goodness to parents, and paying visits to ones own relatives, will ease the accounting on the Day of Judgement.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.74, p. 86

 * Indeed, when a man earns wealth from a haraam (prohibited source) - neither Hajj, nor Umra, nor strengthening of his blood kinship, is ever at all accepted or approved. By God, Almighty.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.75, p. 375

 * Indeed, faithful is the one who - when pleased and glad, his pleasure does not make him enter into sin and falsehood; and when unhappy and angry, his anger does not oust him from the world of righteousness; and when he gains power, his power does not make him commit excess, nor opression, nor make him go for a thing upon which he does not have any right.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol.2, p. 234

 * Two kinds of my community have no share in Islam. (They are): the extremists and the fatalists.
 * Al-Khisal, p. 71

 * There is no servant except that there exists a white spot upon his heart. So when he commits a sin, a black spot arises into that white spot. Then when he repents, this black spot moves away. But if he continues on committing sins, the blackness of this spot increases till such time that it overwhelms and overrides the whiteness. When the whiteness is all covered over (by the blackness), the owner of it (the heart) does never at all return towards beneficence and goodness. And This is what God means when he says: "Nay! rather, what they used to do has become like a rust upon their hearts." (Qur'an, 83:14)
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol.73, p. 332

 * There are three hinges out of the completion of values, of this world and the here-after:
 * 1) Forgiving the one who has committed excess and aggression against you.
 * 2) Joining the one who cuts off relations and ties with you.
 * 3) Forbearance and tolerance for the one who committed a folly, and showed poor behavior and misconducts towards you.
 * Ibn Shu’ba al-Harrani, Tuhaf al-'Uqul, p. 293

 * I admonish you regarding five things:
 * 1) If you are wronged, do not commit wrong doing to others;
 * 2) If you are betrayed, do not betray anyone;
 * 3) If you are called a liar, do not be furious;
 * 4) If you are praised, do not be jubilant;
 * 5) If you are criticised, do not fret and think of what is said in criticism - if you find in yourself what is criticised about you, then you are falling down in the eyes of God; when you are furious about the truth, it is a much greater calamity then your falling down in the eyes of the people. And if you are opposite of what is said (in criticism) about you, then it is a merit you acquired without having to tire yourself in obtaining it.
 * Majlisi, Bihārul Anwār, vol.75, p. 162

 * By Allah no one is our Shī‘ah except that he has piety for God and obeys him. They (the Shī‘ah) are not known and recognized except for their humility, modesty, fear of God, trustworthiness, plenty of remembrance of God, fasting, service, kindness to the parents, looking after the poor neighbours and afflicted people, mentioning them with nothing except goodness and beneficence; and they are the trustees for their tribes in all the affairs.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol.2, p. 84

 * The person who loves for the sake of God, and detests and despises for the sake of God, and gives for the sake of God, is among those whose faith has achieved completion.
 * Muhammad Kulayni, Usūl al-Kāfī, vol.2, p. 124

 * The believer does not spend an expense more lovable with Allah than saying the truth during consent and anger.
 * Al-Khisal, p. 60

 * Whoever has three qualities or one of them will be in the shade of the throne of Allah: He should treat people with justice. He should do nothing unless he knows whether it pleases or angers Allah. He should seek no fault in his Muslim brother until he frees himself from that fault. For when he frees himself from a fault, he finds another fault in him. It is enough for the person that his own self diverts him from the people.
 * Al-Khisal, p. 78

title: Muhammad al-Baqir