Talk:Woodrow Wilson

"I am a most unhappy man..."
Here is part of the quote by Woodrow Wilson that many today are trying to claim is an internet hoax, along with its cite to Wilson's own book. The first part of the quote is in the book as well, yet is technically not part of the same quotation, yet both parts were from Wilson himself. Twelve paragraphs under the chapter titled: IX BENEVOLENCE, OR JUSTICE? “..we have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world—no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men." "THE NEW FREEDOM" A CALL FOR THE EMANCIPATION OF THE GENEROUS ENERGIES OF A PEOPLE BY WOODROW WILSON NEW YORK AND GARDEN CITY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1913 http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14811/14811-h/14811-h.htm

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men." -Woodrow Wilson, after signing the Federal Reserve into existence

It seems to be all over the internet so it must be true... but seriously: many of the "Federal Reserve controlling the world" conspiracy buffs seem to cite it, but I haven't seen any that actually cite a date or a specific document, and with conspiracy buffs even many quotes that do have specified citations turn out to be bogus. Until it can be found in some fairly reliable source, I'd treat it with extreme skepticism. "I have unwittingly ruined my country" seems a bit too extreme of a statement for any politician to ever say. I wouldn't put much trust in too many of the "conspiracy" quotes that are used by all kinds of people— even the legitimate ones are often taken out of context in extreme ways. ~ Achilles 14:16, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

It actually has been added to the Wikipedia on the Federal Reserve Act page... but even there it has been given no specific source, and I remain skeptical about it. ~ Achilles 14:20, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)


 * Achilles, you should do some real research before you just throw the entirety of the subject into the "conspiracy theory" heap. It's not a conspiracy theory when it's true. The Federal Reserve and banking elitists in this country in collusion with other central banking elitists in foreign countries, using their money to buy political offices and lobby their own causes, have raped the United States as well as other countries of any true wealth. - xxxAdamasxxx 4/16/11

In his book The New Freedom: A Call For the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People, chapter 9 Woodrow Wilson cites most of this. However, "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country." contains no reference.

The source is easy enough to find: National Economy and the Banking System, Senate Documents, Col. 3 No. 23

I've done a bit of searching for this quote and can only find it on tax protester sites, without any citation other than date. On the date usually given, Wilson seems to have been in Colorado giving a speech about the League of Nations which has nothing to do with the above quote. His State of the Union speech given a few months later completely contradicts the essence of this quote. I believe the quote to be a false one. I'll eat my words if someone can actually produce a verifiable citation, but I doubt I'll have to.

And further, the reference to "National Economy and the Banking System, Senate Documents, Col. 3 No. 23" is BS

National Economy and the Banking System, Senate Documents, Col. 3 No. 23 PAGE 100.


 * The quote is mostly words Wilson actually wrote, with the first two sentences of it apparently being incorrect and the rest taken from Wilson's The New Freedom. Below is what one can actually derive from connecting together two passages from The New Freedom:


 * A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men ... [W]e have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world—no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.


 * All of the above is from Woodrow Wilson's The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People (New York and Garden City: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1913). In this same work, Wilson also wrote the below:


 * Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men's views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States, in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.


 * 206.148.136.60 18:58, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't really matter who said it, the point is that it is true, the federal government and federal reserve create a monarchy as opposed to a democracy.


 * Guys, the United States is not supposed to be a democracy. It's supposed to be a Constitutional Republic. If you look at the Federal Reserve, Congress, the Senate, and what recent presidents have been pulling, you'll see that they are not following the Constitution. That is why we have an illegal, unapportioned income tax and are engaged in several unconstitutional wars. Also, the Federal Reserve is a PRIVATE corporation. The responsibility of the coin purse of the United States is supposed to fall directly to Congress and the Treasury. - xxxAdamasxxx 4/16/11

Actually this quote is taken from Woodrow Wilson's diary not in any speech he gave. those would be big words for a politician to preach to the public.


 * The FED published data on three monetary aggregates, yet on November 10th 2005 announced that as of March 23rd 2006, it would cease publication of M3. YET M3 is the best description of how quickly the Fed is creating new money & credit. Which means they're creating it out of thin air, therefore depreciating the value of each dollar in circulation IF EACH DOLLAR REPRESENTS AN IOU BASED ON GOLD.


 * Here's The Recent Data which confirms Woodrow Wilson's quote: http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/discm3.htm

Misattributed Section Change
I don't know if I did the right thing or not but i removed the Misattributed Section that stated that a famous Wilson quote was entirely made up. Most of it at least is real as can be verified by the source so I added the part that is definitely true to the Sourced Section.

From the original text one would understand that 100% of the quoted text was false when in fact at least most of it was accurate. Right now the article contains what it should (in my oppinion): Wilson's original quote.

Leave the debates for the talk pages please. --xeq

I am in the process of verifying the original quote with "I am a most unhappy person. I have unwittingly ruined my country." at the beginning. I think I might have found someone who has a copy of “National Economy and the Banking System," Senate Documents Co. 3, No. 23 -- xeq

Here is a link to “National Economy and the Banking System," Senate Documents: https://archive.org/stream/NationalEconomyAndTheBankingSystemOfTheUnitedStates/NationalEconomyAndTheBankingSystem#page/n105/mode/2up/search/wilson   Look halfway down on page 100.  In some versions of this quote I have read, it says in the quote "a small group of dominant men" but in the version I've linked from a congressional report, it reads "small groups of dominant men" .... a world of difference as to whom Woodrow Wilson is implicating ... the FED or independent bankers of that day. --123.2.48.239 02:19, 7 January 2016 (UTC)

Someone said the reference to "National Economy and the Banking System, Senate Documents, Col. 3 No. 23" is BS. Would that person please elaborate? Did he read the book and find the quote to be different? Did he read the book and notice the quote doesn't exist? Does that document not exist?

The document certainly exists as it is referenced on many believable sites and I may have even found someone who might have a copy. I am pretty sure people agree to this (if they don't I will have to include links as right now I don't think it's the case and I'm too lazy).

One more thing... there appear to be 3 versions of this quote. One I included in the Sourced Section. The second includes "I have unwittingly ruined my country" in front. The third includes "I am a most unhappy man" in front of the second.

There are also 3 possible sources:

--xeq
 * One has been proven for the first version: The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People (New York and Garden City: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1913)
 * Some sites (pretty believable in my opinion) say Woodrow Wilson said version 2 (and some version 3) in 1916, three years after the passing of the Federal Reserve Act.
 * National Economy and the Banking System, Senate Documents, Col. 3 No. 23 (Owen, Robert L., 1939), which is said to contain version 2 and (by some sites) version 3 of the quote, possibly (in my opinion) from 1916.

I restored the misattributed section and its content, as well as extending some of the genuine material out of which this "quote" was woven. Political campaign speeches notoriously resort to histrionics, but to begin a statement with what seems to be a total fabrication "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country." and then follow it with cherry-picked portions of other campaign statements against several types of general business monopolies to make it seem that there is some single monolithic and sinsister cabal that he is warning people about, when that is not actually the case, is to compose a very bogus and misleading "quotation". Wilson himself in his Preface to the collection of genuine material indicates "I have not written a book since the campaign. I did not write this book at all. It is the result of the editorial literary skill of Mr. William Bayard Hale, who has put together here in their right sequences the more suggestive portions of my campaign speeches." Thus this is done openly, with his own material, and with his own authorization, making the statements that appear in the book his. To mix statements in plainly misleading ways and without authorization, and to mix the false with the true are other matters entirely. Wikiquote articles are places to expose widely circulated bogus quotes as well as to post genuine ones, and the comments accurately indicated that the statement seemed to be a misleading mixture of the genuine and the fabricated, and this remains the case. ~ Kalki 21:53, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Isn't it possible that Wilson later repeated that speech (as many politicians do) including "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country"? Setting aside the apparent radical nature of the words, has it been proven that Wilson never said those words? To say that quote is misattributed is to say it's on good authority that he never said it. Is this the case? I think at the very least this section shouldn't exist. There can be two possible sources of information on this: one saying that he did say it and the other that he didn't. While the first exists (in quite a few forms, though some people don't entirely trust) the second certainly doesn't.

Two kinds of people seem to exist: the ones that read a conspiracy theory and accept it without research and the ones that read it and say it's false without research. The first act out of spite for the authorities while the second act out of spite for conspiracy theories. I just ask you to be trully impartial on this matter.

What you are saying here is that because Wilson said that quote without "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country" in front he definitely couldn't have said it in the second form. What's your exact reasoning? As people cites their sources when they say this quote is true you should cite yours when you say it isn't. Right now it appears you're citing yourself. There should be at least a newspaper article, a university professor, any public figure that looked into the matter and found this quote to be bogus. I grant you there is a possibility that Wilson never said it but right now it's not probable. Right now the opposite is probable (according to sources, excluding "National Economy...").

There are pretty good chances that this material is genuine as there are quite a few good sources on it (note that in the end no source can be said to be 100% trustworthy). There apparently is a book in which this quote appears and if it's there than no person on Wikipedia, unless that person is an authority on the subject, can decide it's false. So until someone clarifies what's written in "National Economy and the Banking System, Senate Documents, Col. 3 No. 23" I don't think anyone here can assume to have more authority on the matter than Mr. Owen, Robert L. (the author) and i suggest that until then the section should be deleted. Right now one would assume that the person who says this quote is misattributed read that book and found that quote not to be there or to be different OR that person is saying that he is a better authority on the matter then the author. None of these are true.

The practice of not only deleting a quote that has a source but also saying it's misattributed, although nobody who says this read the book, is a really bad one.

I would like it if at least people agreed that it' still an open debate and it should be left for the talk pages. Right now the entry in the Misattributed section is citing the talk pages! I think that's where the debate should take place until a proper resolution. ~ xeq 12:34, 15 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I do not think it at all credible that a person who is running for the office of President, would at any point in his campaigning say "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country." Nor that someone who had not yet even been elected to that office would even have any cause or reason to say it. The portions of Wilson's statements that are genuine, in context, are also plainly are referring to things far less sinister and secretive than they plainly are meant to imply in the cobbled together versions that they have been used to create. Personally, I do not think it at all credible that he actually said anything remotely like that statement as it is portrayed, at any point in his life, let alone on the campaign trail, and the overwhelming preponderance of the evidence indicates that it is a deliberately concocted statement meant to mislead people to false conclusions, and not a genuine one, meant to illuminate actual truth. Many famous people have quotes falsely attributed to them, and their are sections on many pages of the Wikiquote project where such quotes are presented along with the evidence that exists that they are not genuine. No one can absolutely prove that Eleanor Roosevelt did not at some point in her life say "America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, bad-ass speed" but one has to be extremely ignorant and credulous to actually be inclined to believe that she did, merely because she is "quoted" as having done so in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. One should not have to be in so absurd a position as that of having to prove so absurd a thing is false. If something seems both absurdly uncharacteristic and is not reliably documented, it should be the burden of those who insist upon it as genuine to prove that it is true. ~ Kalki 13:50, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

I heard this speech with my own ears. I was there. It's verbatim. Stop screwing with history. 130.111.158.192 22:10, 15 April 2007 (UTC)


 * If this is false then why hasn’t any proof of National Economy and the Banking System, Senate Documents, Col. 3 No. 23 been produced? That would seem to be the best way to prove Truth or fault about this.


 * Also check out http://www.freedomtofascism.com/ Aaron Russo's film on the subject.  This is my first experience with Mr. Russo's work.  And I believe he would take his time to find Truth before using false claims.


 * Even Repub. Congressman RON PAUL from Texas agrees that the FED is EVIL! And he is the Defender of the Constitution!  http://www.ronpaul2008.com  He appears in Aaron Russo's film and talks openly about this.


 * I think I would Believe a very educated and loyal servant of our Nation when he speaks against the Big Machine.


 * I am searching for Answers like the rest of you... K.Maguire 11/26/2007 (http://www.gotlocalmusic.com)




 * I retained the "Disputed" tag to the section on my last edit, as it remains disputed, but I see very little credible evidence that it is not a misattribution. As with all attempts to prove a negative there can be no "proof" that is not, but there also remains no reliable evidence at all that it is genuine. I reverted changes made to the summary, as it seems very clearly to be a concoction, with only the first two sentences not yet sourced at all to other documents. I also added this comment to the previous remarks:
 * It has been said by some supporters of its supposed authenticity to appear in "Senate Documents Co. 3, No. 23, 76th Congress, 1st session, 1939" but even were it in these records it would certainly be someone quoting it into the record, and not a quote of Wilson directly, as he had already been dead a number of years. Many such misquotations thus appear in Senate and Congressional records. If such a record actually exists a citation of a more definite source might conceivably exist there.
 * I am not even confident that there is such a document at all, but if there is, unless it provides an earlier definite source, it merely provides a possible date of when this statement began circulating. ~ Kalki 14:39, 14 December 2007 (UTC)


 * As unlikely as it may be, I can also conceive of some genuine source for "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country." eventually being found, but in a totally different context from that portrayed. I find very little credibility to the idea that such a statement was ever made by Wilson, or any other politician, in any campaign speech. ~ Kalki 14:46, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Though the argument seems to be entangled so deeply into a spiral which is impossible now to even read, it seems the "doubters" have won by attrition. I would argue the merits of the quote by the fact that hundreds of other statesmen have repeatedly warned of the dangers of a "Central Banking System!" These quotes are easily available, but are also attacked by the intellectuals, which takes us to the same spiral.

I think we are all forgetting, (ONE) WE HAVE A CENTRAL BANK! (TWO) WE HAVE A 9 TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT! With a seventy trillion dollar entitlement, (social security, medicaid, and medicare).

The Democratic and Republican two party system was born of the Andrew Jackson presidency. Andrew Jackson's legacy was ending the Central Banking System that had already gained control of our money.

Historians will all agree a particular event that sticks out as leading to the Revolutionary War was King George III's attempt to outlaw the interest free, independent currency being used by the Colonies. There by forcing them to accept a paper bill issued by the Central Bank of England, at interest. This is the entire argument against the Central Banking System. It charges the government interest to borrow money from the bank in order to finance the need for a currency. 14:26, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

References at Google Book


 * Woodrow Wilson: '''"I am a most unhappy man; unwittingly I have ruined my country..."

The American Mercury by George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken, 1924, p. 56

"President Woodrow Wilson-( After breaking with the engineers of the Fed Act, and near his death), "I am a most unhappy man; unwittingly I have ruined my ..."

The Federal Reserve Hoax By Wickliffe B. Vennard, 1959, p. 27, full quote

Richard Cotten's Conservative Viewpoint by Richard B. Cotten

"PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON - (After breaking with Colonel House) who with Warburg engineered the Fed. act: "I am a most unhappy man; unwittingly I have ruined ..."

To All My Children As the World Turns By Gyeorgos C. Hatonn, 1993, p. 152

"Even Woodrow Wilson would regret his actions and before his death, stated: "I am a most unhappy man--unwittingly I have ruined my country."

After Fascism By Abid Ullah Jan, p. 31, full quote

Web of Debt By Ellen Hodgson Brown. p. 127, partial quote

"The bill passed on December 22, 1913, and President Wilson signed it into law the next day. Later he regretted what he had done.  He is reported to have said before he died, "I have unwittingly ruined my country."

Outsourcing Culture By Robert E. Greenwood Jr. Phd, p. 118, partial quote

--98.202.49.82 22:09, 16 August 2008 (UTC)



I found this quote which is kind of saying the same thing at brainyquotes.com I'm pretty sure it isn't a conspiracy theory site. "The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy."



I agree that it is conceivable that there is a genuine source for "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country." I also agree that it is unlikely that it would be included in a "campaign" speech. But I don't see where anyone has attributed said quote to a "campaign" speech. He was already President when the Federal Reserve Act was enacted, and he is said to have said these words "before he died." 01:42, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Senate Document 23
I've located [http://www.archive.org/details/NationalEconomyAndTheBankingSystemOfTheUnitedStates Senate Doc. 23, 76th Congress, 1st Session]. There's no "I am a most unhappy man" and there's no "I have unwittingly ruined my country". There are two quotes from Wilson on page 100: Woodrow Wilson, 1916, said: A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the Nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men... We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated, governments in the civilized world—no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men.

President Wilson, in advocating the Federal Reserve Act, said: "We must have a currency, not rigid as now, but readily, elastically responsive to sound credit, the expanding and contracting credits of everyday transactions, the normal ebb and flow of personal and corporate dealings. Our banking laws must mobilize reserves; must not permit the concentration anywhere in a few hands of the monetary resources of the country or their use for speculative purposes in such volume as to hinder or impede or stand in the way of other more legitimate, more fruitful uses. And the control of the system of banking and of issue which our new laws are to set up must be public, not private, must be vested in the Government itself, so that the banks may be the instruments, not the masters, of business and of individual enterprise and initiative."

I have also looked at The Federal Reserve Hoax (1959) in a library. It has no references for any of its quotes. The quote "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country" does not appear in Dwinell's The Story of Our Money (1946), and she would certainly have included it if the quote was known then. I conclude that the quote came into existence between 1946 and 1959 and is not genuine. KHirsch 03:05, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

--207.30.9.41 17:52, 1 September 2010 (UTC)Strawman Solution
 * HERE'S SOME VERIFIABLE INFORMATION: First, you have to understand how money actually comes to exist in the first place. Common middle Americans only think statements such as Wilson's to be extreme because of a fundamental lack of education about our monetary system and its role, beginning with the Central Bank- ie. The Federal Reserve- incidentally privately owned, not federal AT ALL, in case you were unaware. I recommend two sources to give the fundamentals, easily located at www.video.google.com: The first is a 47 minute document:ary explaining how money is created called Money As Debt; second (and longer, but equally important and well-documented) The Money Masters. You will find that Woodrow Wilson and all of the others, including presidents, were- pun intended- right on the money about how destructive the system is. Another from John Adams, one of our founding fathers: "All of the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arises, not from the defects of the Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from DOWNRIGHT IGNORANCE OF THE NATURE OR COIN, CREDIT, AND CIRCULATION.'"***
 * Thank you for your interest, but notice at the top of this page: "This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Woodrow Wilson article." & "This is not a forum for general discussion about the article's subject." At issue here is not the subject matter of the purported quotes, but verifying whether Wilson actually said them. ~ Ningauble 15:39, 2 September 2010 (UTC)


 * If Wilson said the two first sentences or not:
 * If he said the rest, he most definetly was "a most unhappy man" and very hopefully "unwittingly". So leaving these 2 phrases in the quote seems very logical to me as to summarize the following.


 * The source is dead. Even if he didnt say it EVERYTHING about the Federal Reserve and how it opperate is TRUE


 * The legitimacy of this quote has pretty much been put to rest. The first two sentences appear to be complete fabrications. The rest of it is actually two separate quotes that are slightly altered and taken out of context. He is actually referring to monopolies. Source: The New Freedom --Ryan0991 20:51, 17 August 2011 (UTC)
 * The quote clearly refers to credit and banking. So not "monopolies" but the banking monopoly.

Here is the actual quote: "A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men who, even if their action be honest and intended for the public interest, are necessarily concentrated upon the great undertakings in which their own money is involved and who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom. This is the greatest question of all, and to this statesmen must address themselves with an earnest determination to serve the long future and the true liberties of men." -Woodrow Wilson contributed by C. Whitaker --214.26.214.162 22:27, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Historical revisionism?
This line seems very aggressive...


 * "He is often the target of revisionist biographers, who criticize his segregationist legislation."

I'm not an expert on Wilson so i have left it for now, but perhaps a more objective phrasing might be in order. Something like:


 * "He has been criticize by some biographers for his segregationist legislation."


 * As the author of that line, let me elaborate. Revisionism, I have always believed, is not entirely a negative thing. For example, it is good that many previously canon explanations of history are revisited after time and society has progressed a bit. I would not construe the use of the word revisionist to be unobjective, merely descriptive. In truth, that is what has happened. With a revision of accepted popular opinion on Woodrow Wilson, he has been found, in light of contemporary ideology and sentiments, to be a bit on the bigotted side when it came to his policies. -- Benn M 10:23, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * I agree with you on that "revisionist" sounds too aggressive and a bit unobjective. Your proposed like seems to me better. Please update it.
 * Perhaps you can include one of most notable those biographers - it is a fact and not a labelling in my opinion. If the biographer mentioned if a revisionist or not, it is up to the judge of readers, not us. --Aphaia 10:44, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Federal Reserve quotes
The Rothschilds "The few who understand the system, will either be so interested from its profits or so dependant on its favors,    that there will be no opposition from that class." -- Rothschild Brothers of London, 1863

"Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes its laws" -- Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild

Senators & Congressmen:

"Most Americans have no real understanding of the operation of the international money lenders. The accounts of the Federal    Reserve System have never been audited. It operates outside the control of Congress and manipulates the credit of the United     States" -- Sen. Barry Goldwater (Rep. AZ)

"This [Federal Reserve Act] establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President   [Wilson} signs this bill, the invisible government of the monetary power will be legalized....    the worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking and currency bill." -- Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr., 1913

"From now on, depressions will be scientifically created." -- Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh Sr., 1913

"The financial system has been turned over to the Federal Reserve Board. That Board asministers the finance system by authority   of  a purely profiteering group. The system is Private, conducted for the sole purpose of obtaining the greatest possible profits    from the use of other people's money" -- Charles A. Lindbergh Sr., 1923

"The Federal Reserve bank buys government bonds without one penny..." -- Congressman Wright Patman, Congressional Record, Sept 30, 1941

"We have, in this country, one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board. This evil institution has impoverished the people of the United States and has practically bankrupted our government. It has done this through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it". -- Congressman Louis T. McFadden in 1932 (Rep. Pa)

"The Federal Reserve banks are one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever seen.   There is not a man within the sound of my voice who does not know that this nation is run by the    International bankers -- Congressman Louis T. McFadden (Rep. Pa)

"Some people think the Federal Reserve Banks are the United States government's institutions.   They are not government institutions. They are private credit monopolies which prey upon the people    of the United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign swindlers" -- Congressional Record 12595-12603 -- Louis T. McFadden, Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency (12 years) June 10, 1932

"I have never seen more Senators express discontent with their jobs....I think the major cause is that, deep down in our hearts, we have been accomplices in doing something terrible and unforgiveable to our wonderful country. Deep down in our heart, we know that we have given our children a legacy of bankruptcy. We have defrauded our country to get ourselves elected." -- John Danforth (R-Mo)

"These 12 corporations together cover the whole country and monopolize and use for private gain every dollar of the public currency..." -- Mr. Crozier of Cincinnati, before Senate Banking and Currency Committee - 1913

"The [Federal Reserve Act] as it stands seems to me to open the way to a vast inflation of the currency... I do not like to think that any law can be passed that will make it possible to submerge the gold standard in a flood of irredeemable paper currency." -- Henry Cabot Lodge Sr., 1913

From the Federal Reserves Own Admissions: "When you or I write a check there must be sufficient funds in out account to cover the check, but when the Federal Reserve writes a check there is no bank deposit on which that check is drawn. When the Federal Reserve writes a check, it is creating money." -- Putting it simply, Boston Federal Reserve Bank

"Neither paper currency nor deposits have value as commodities, intrinsically, a 'dollar' bill is just a piece of paper. Deposits are merely book entries." -- Modern Money Mechanics Workbook, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1975

"The Federal Reserve system pays the U.S. Treasury 020.60 per thousand notes --a little over 2 cents each-- without regard to the face value of the note. Federal Reserve Notes, incidently, are the only type of currency now produced for circulation. They are printed exclusively by the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the $20.60 per thousand price reflects the Bureau's full cost of production. Federal Reserve Notes are printed in 01, 02, 05, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollar denominations only; notes of 500, 1000, 5000, and 10,000 denominations were last printed in 1945." --Donald J. Winn, Assistant to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system

"We are completely dependant on the commercial banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash or credit. If the banks create ample synthetic money we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system.... It is the most important subject intelligent persons can investigate and reflect upon. It is so important that our present civilization may collapse unless it becomes widely understood and the defects remedied very soon." --Robert H. Hamphill, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank

From General Law: "The entire taxing and monetary systems are hereby placed under the U.C.C. (Uniform Commercial Code)" -- The Federal Tax Lien Act of 1966

"There is a distinction between a 'debt discharged' and a debt 'paid'. When discharged, the debt still exists though divested of it's charter as a legal obligation during the operation of the discharge, something of the original vitality of the debt continues to exist, which may be transferred, even though the transferee takes it subject to it's disability incident to the discharge." --Stanek vs. White, 172 Minn.390, 215 N.W. 784

"The Federal Reserve Banks are not federal instrumentalities..." -- Lewis vs. United States 9th Circuit 1992

"The regional Federal Reserve banks are not government agencies. ...but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations." -- Lewis vs. United States, 680 F. 2d 1239 9th Circuit 1982

Past Presidents, not including the Founding Fathers

"Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce." -- James A. Garfield, President of the United States

"A great industrial nation is controlled by it's system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated   in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely    controlled and dominated governments in the world--no longer a government of free opinion, no    longer a government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and    duress of small groups of dominant men." --President Woodrow Wilson

Founding Father's Quotes on Banking (May contain some repeats from "Founding Father's Quotes" / Information tends to converge)

Thomas Jefferson: "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs."--Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President.

Andrew Jackson: "If Congress has the right [it doesn't] to issue paper money [currency], it was given to them to be used by...[the government] and not to be delegated to individuals or corporations" -- President Andrew Jackson, Vetoed Bank Bill of 1836

James Madison: "History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and it's issuance". -- James Madison                                                   Misc. Sources "Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing" -- Ralph M. Hawtrey, Secretary of the British Treasury

"To expose a 15 Trillion dollar ripoff of the American people by the stockholders of the 1000 largest corporations over the last 100 years will be a tall order of business." -- Buckminster Fuller

"Every Congressman, every Senator knows precisely what causes inflation...but can't, [won't] support the drastic reforms to stop it [repeal of the Federal Reserve Act] because it could cost him his job." -- Robert A. Heinlein, Expanded Universe

"It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning." -- Henry Ford

"[Every circulating FRN] represents a one dollar debt to the Federal Reserve system." -- Money Facts, House Banking and Currency Committee

"...the increase in the assets of the Federal Reserve banks from 143 million dollars in 1913 to 45 billion dollars in 1949 went directly to the private stockholders of the [federal reserve] banks." -- Eustace Mullins

"As soon as Mr. Roosevelt took office, the Federal Reserve began to buy government securities at the rate of ten million dollars a week for 10 weeks, and created one hundred million dollars in new [checkbook] currency, which alleviated the critical famine of money and credit, and the factories started hiring people again." -- Eustace Mullins

"Should government refrain from regulation (taxation), the worthlessness of the money becomes apparent and the fraud can no longer be concealed." -- John Maynard Keynes, "Consequences of Peace."

"Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the earth. Take it away from    them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough     deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will     disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you     wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create     deposits".- SIR JOSIAH STAMP,(President of the Bank of England in the 1920's, the second richest man in Britain):

"The modern Banking system manufactures money out of nothing. The process    is perhaps the most astounding piece of sleight of hand that was ever invented. Banks can in fact inflate,     mint and unmint the modern ledger-entry currency".- MAJOR L .L. B. ANGUS:

"While boasting of our noble deeds were careful to conceal the ugly fact that by an    iniquitous money system we have nationalized a system of oppression which, though more refined, is not     less cruel than the old system of chattel slavery. - Horace Greeley

"People who will not turn a shovel full of dirt on the project (Muscle Shoals Dam)    nor contribute a pound of material, will collect more money from the United States than will the People     who supply all the material and do all the work. This is the terrible thing about interest ...But here is the     point: If the Nation can issue a dollar bond it can issue a dollar bill. The element that makes the bond     good makes the bill good also. The difference between the bond and the bill is that the bond lets the money     broker collect twice the amount of the bond and an addi- tional 20%. Whereas the currency, the honest     sort provided by the Constitution pays nobody but those who contribute in some useful way. It is absurd to     say our Country can issue bonds and cannot issue currency. Both are promises to pay, but one fattens the     usurer and the other helps the People. If the currency issued by the People were no good, then the bonds would be no good, either. It is a terrible situation when the Government, to insure the National Wealth, must go in debt and submit to ruinous interest charges at the hands of men who control the fictitious value of gold. Interest is the invention of Satan". - THOMAS A. EDISON "By this means government may secretly and unobserved, confiscate the wealth of the people, and not one man in a million will detect the theft."--John Maynard Keynes (the father of 'Keynesian Economics' which our nation now endures) in his book "THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE" (1920).

"Capital must protect itself in every way...Debts must be collected and loans and mortgages foreclosed as soon as possible. When through a process of law the common people have lost their homes, they will be more tractable and more easily governed by the strong arm of the law applied by the central power of leading financiers. People without homes will not quarrel with their leaders. This is well known among our principal men now engaged in forming an imperialism of capitalism to govern the world. By dividing the people we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance to us except as teachers of the common herd."-- Taken from the Civil Servants' Year Book, "The Organizer" January 1934.

"The Federal Reserve banks, while not part of the government,..." -- United States budget for 1991 and 1992 part 7, page 10

The Money Power! It is the greatest power on earth; and it is arrayed against Labour. No other power that is or ever was can be named with it...it attacks us through the Press - a monster with a thousand lying tongues, a beast surpassing in foulness any conceived by the mythology that invented dragons, were wolves, harpies, ghouls and vampires. It thunders against us from innumerable platforms and pulpits. The mystic machinery of the churches it turns into an engine of wrath for our destruction. Yes, so far as we are concerned, the headquarters of the Money Power is Britain. But the Money Power is not a British institution; it is cosmopolitan. It is of no nationality, but of all nationalities. It dominates the world. The Money Power has corrupted the faculties of the human soul, and tampered with the sanity of the human intellect... Editorial from 1907 edition of The Brisbane Worker (Australia)

...I am convinced that the agreement [Bretton Woods] will enthrone a world dictatorship of private finance more complete and terrible than and Hitlerite dream. It offers no solution of world problems, but quite blatantly sets up controls which will reduce the smaller nations to vassal states and make every government the mouthpiece and tool of International Finance. It will undermine and destroy the democratic institutions of this country - in fact as effectively as ever the Fascist forces could have done - pervert and paganise our Christian ideals; and will undoubtedly present a new menace, endangering world peace. World collaboration of private financial interests can only mean mass unemployment, slavery, misery, degredation and financial destruction. Therefore, as freedom loving Australians we should reject this infamous proposal. -- Labor Minister of Australia, Eddie Ward, during the inception of the World Bank and Bretton Woods, he gave this warning.

Ku Klux Klan quote
"white men of the South were aroused by the mere instinct of self-preservation [...] until at last there had sprung into existence a great Ku Klux Klan", A History of the American People, vol. 5., Reunion and Nationalization (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1902), 58–60.

Found at White Out: Race and Nationalism in American Studies. --tickle me 20:08, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

Find a source
Author of this site says this quote is from a book called "Repeal the Federal Reserve Banks" by Casimir Frank Gierut on p. 31. Can't seem to find the ISBN.

Source Information Located
A reference to purchasing the book, "Taxpayers' message to Congress: Repeal the Federal Reserve banks : Pandora's box of criminal acts (Unknown Binding) by Casimir Frank Gierut (Author)" from a seller, sallys_garden, at www.amazon.com on March 3, 2007 does not cite an ISBN. The book, available for US$199.95 plus shipping is described as "Used - Good....Signed by author. 1987 printing. Inscription above signature covered over by whiteout. Moderate cover wear, small tear. Hinge crease. Pages clean and unmarked. Binding tight." Additional descriptive information provided describing the book includes -- Unknown Binding: 286 pages; Publisher: National Committee to Repeal the Federal Reserve Act (1983); Language: English; and ASIN: B0006EE6EQ. 

ASIN is an acronym for "Amazon Standard Item Number."

Taxpayers' Message to Congress: Repeal the Federal Reserve Banks : Pandora's Box of Criminal Acts By statement: by Casimir Frank Gierut. Language: English Pagination: 286 p. : LCCN: 83221371 Dewey: 332.1/1/0973 LC: HG2565 .G54 1983 Subject: Federal Reserve banks. 

References at Google Book

 * Woodrow Wilson: '''"I am a most unhappy man; unwittingly I have ruined my country..."

The American Mercury by George Jean Nathan, Henry Louis Mencken, 1924, p. 56

"President Woodrow Wilson-( After breaking with the engineers of the Fed Act, and near his death), "I am a most unhappy man; unwittingly I have ruined my ..."

The Federal Reserve Hoax By Wickliffe B. Vennard, 1959, p. 27, full quote

Richard Cotten's Conservative Viewpoint by Richard B. Cotten

"PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON - (After breaking with Colonel House) who with Warburg engineered the Fed. act: "I am a most unhappy man; unwittingly I have ruined ..."

To All My Children As the World Turns By Gyeorgos C. Hatonn, 1993, p. 152

"Even Woodrow Wilson would regret his actions and before his death, stated: "I am a most unhappy man--unwittingly I have ruined my country."

After Fascism By Abid Ullah Jan, p. 31, full quote

Web of Debt By Ellen Hodgson Brown. p. 127, partial quote

"The bill passed on December 22, 1913, and President Wilson signed it into law the next day. Later he regretted what he had done.  He is reported to have said before he died, "I have unwittingly ruined my country."

Outsourcing Culture By Robert E. Greenwood Jr. Phd, p. 118, partial quote

The doors of the nations which are closed against him must be battered down.
(source found) "Since trade ignores national boundaries and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a market, the flag of his nation must follow him, and the doors of the nations which are closed against him must be battered down. Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process. Colonies must be obtained or planted, in order that no useful corner of the world may be overlooked or left unused." -- Woodrow Wilson Nunamiut 20:17, 27 March 2007 (UTC) Date? Place?
 * Columbia University (15 April 1907)Nunamiut 20:17, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Lecture delivered in 1907 (cited in William Appleman Williams, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy, p. 72).

John Hay’s "Open Door Notes" - the proclamation of American Lebensraum in 1899, and 1900 signified the beginning of the American commercial invasion of the world, the future American imperialist expansionism through the policy of Open Door.(27) As I have already pointed out Woodrow Willson’s words "World safe for democracy" translated in reality "World safe for American Lebensraum". Wilson saw overseas economic expansion as the frontier to replace the American continent that has been conquered. In a section of volume V of his "History of the American People", which reads as a paraphrase of essays written by Brooks Adams, Wilson claimed that United States is destined to command "the economic fortunes of the world" through the "Open Door" expansionism. "Diplomacy, and if need be, power, must make an open way." In a series of lectures at Columbia University in April of 1907, he was even more forthright:

"Since trade ignores national boundaries and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a marked, the flag of his nation must follow him, and the doors of the nations which are closed must be battered down…Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process. Colonies must be obtained or planted, in order that no useful corner of the world may be overlooked or left unused"(28).

http://www.geocities.com/integral_tradition/NATO.html Nunamiut 20:17, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Wilson on Black Africans
In his five-volume History of the American People, Wilson described the Ku Klux Klan as having been organized by a group of idle young men in Pulaski, Tennessee as a social club for mere association and amusement. They named it Kuklos, Greek for circle. Wilson proceeded to write: “Secrecy and mystery were at the heart of the pranks they planned: secrecy with regard to the membership of their Circle, mystery with regard to the place and objects of its meetings; and the mystery of disguise and of silent parade when the comrades rode abreast at night when the moon was up: a white mask, a tall cardboard hat, the figures of a man and horse sheeted like a ghost, and the horses feet muffled to move without sound of their approach. It was the delightful discovery of the thrill of awesome fear, the woeful looking for calamity that swept through the country sides as they moved from pace to place upon their silent visitations, coming no man could say whence, going upon no man knew what errand, that put thought of mischief into the minds of the frolicking comrades. It threw Negroes into a very ecstasy of panic to see these sheeted ‘Ku Klux’ move near them in the shrouded night; and their comic fear stimulated the lads who excited it to many an extravagant prank and mummery. No one knew or could discover who the masked players were; no one could say whether they meant serious business or only innocent mischief; and the zest of the business lay in keeping the secret close. Year by year the organization spread until at last there had sprung into existence a great Ku Klux Klan, an “Invisible Empire of the South,” bound together in loose organization, to protect the southern country from some of the ugliest hazards of a time of revolution.”

Another Source
''Liberty never came from government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it. When we resist the concentration of power we are resisting the powers of death. Concentration of power precedes the destruction of human liberties.''

That's the extended quote, in sequece. It's from the campaign of 1912, the Wilson's address to the New York Press Club on September 9. The full speech is in: The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, Volume 25, edited by Arthur S. Link, Princeton University Press, 1978. The quote is on page 124.

Lot's of web sites quote parts of this section of his address. I am sure the quote is out of copyrite since an exact copy dated 1912 and matching the works book is in Wilson's Presidential Library. Someone who works on Wikiquote needs to decide how much to include and/or how to separate. Thanks.

Unsourced
Wikiquote no longer allows unsourced quotations, and they are in process of being removed from our pages (see Wikiquote:Limits on quotations); but if you can provide a reliable and precise source for any quote on this list please move it to Woodrow Wilson. --Antiquary 19:34, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

I've sourced all the quotes that were here, except for the following:


 * A progressive is just a conservative with an eye to the future.
 * I can't find any evidence of this one.


 * Golf is a game in which one endeavors to control a ball with implements ill adapted for the purpose.
 * According to Cary T. Grayson's memoir, Wilson liked to quote this, but it's not original with him.


 * One of the proofs of the divinity of our gospel is the preaching it has survived.
 * I can't find any evidence of this one.


 * There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.
 * This is a quote from Albert Einstein in Albert Einstein: maker of universes, by Haig Gordon Garbedian, p. 267. Often misattributed to Albert Schweitzer.


 * We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening. Some of us let these dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who hope that their dreams will come true.
 * This quote appears in a speech in a fictional story, “The Citizen” by James Francis Dwyer, which originally appeared in Collier's Weekly. Some of the phrases that the President speaks in the story appear in President Wilson's Citizens of Foreign Birth speech, but this quote does not. It's possible that Wilson delivered a version of the speech that includes this quote, but I think it's more likely that Dwyer was exercising poetic license. The phrases don't seem typical of Wilson's style.

—KHirsch 19:36, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Sigmund Freud Quote?
The quote attributed to Sigmund Freud was written in 1966? Freud had been dead for 27 years —


 * The book was published in 1967, but Freud did collaborate on it in the 1930s. There was controversy about how much of the final book was Freud's work, but most critics thought that Freud did write the introduction, which is where the quote comes from. If you have access to JSTOR, these articles discuss the book: 172603, 3479370, 4634289 —KHirsch 06:17, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Ahh, nice work, thanks

Possible "unhappy man" source?
An editor posted the following text in the quote page. Since it is in the form of a critique and proposal, it belongs here and not there. The quote page should summarize a consensus about the origin of quotes, not exchange opinions back and forth. 24.7.14.87 06:52, 16 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Found it. The first part is from here:  Dall, Curtis "FDR: My Exploited Father-in-Law" Christian Crusade Publications. 1967. 145-146. Print.  The second and third part of the quote is from The New Freedom: A Call for the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People," published in 1913.  Page 185 and 201.  "" The New Freedom is a distillation of campaign speeches Wilson made while running for President in 1911.


 * Found the first part of the original quote people are saying was misattributed or made-up. FDR's Son-in-Law, Curtis Dall [1896-1991] attributed this quote to Wilson. The exact quote is as follows: "At the end, FDR apparently evidenced some pangs of remorse and concern at Warm Springs, Georgia, about how Joseph Stalin had 'trimmed' him.  These were understandable but too late.  By that time, Stalin and his supporters here in the U.S.A. had squeezed all the 'juice' out of FDR's exploited Presidential 'Orange!'  The pulp remained for us to digest and duly profit thereby.  Woodrow Wilson, strangely enough, likewise evidenced similar remorse as he approached his end.  He finally said, 'I am a most unhappy man ... unwittingly I have ruined my country.'  He broke with Colonel House, who then retired from public life, although he (House) continued to work behind the scenes for the Money Barons."  Source: "FDR: My Exploited Father-in-Law" by Curtis Dall, Christian Crusade Publications, 1967., pages 145-146.  There has been some suggestion that The American Mercury magazine published the quote first back in the 1910's however I could not find it in the magazine until the 1970's, which would have been long after Curtis Dall published his account.  It is up to us to decide whether or not to believe FDR's Son-in-Law's account of what Wilson said, but to argue that we somehow know that Woodrow Wilson did not say something to Curtis Dall is not really our place to speculate.  That said, it would appear a few authors took the artistic liberty of piecing together two of Woodrow's words.  The first part  "I am a most unhappy man [for] I have unwittingly ruined my country" which is from FDR's son-in-law, and pieced it together alongside with the second part which was lifted from Wilson's campaign speeches before he even became president.  The two quotes should be kept separate and explained in context as to avoid false impressions and to avoid throwing the baby out entirely with the murky historical bathwater.  Some websites, we all know, are too quick to label things entirely "false."

Red Summer Quote?
I've seen this quote posted in a few places, but it's nowhere on the page:

"I hope you won’t think it inappropriate if I stop here to express my shame as an American citizen at the race riots that have occurred at some places in this country, where men have forgot humanity and justice and orderly society and have run amuck."

Is this a false quote or a real one? Bayad27 (talk) 07:05, 7 January 2023 (UTC)