We are not put into this world to sit still and know; we are put into it to act. It is true that in order to learn men must for a little while withdraw from action, must seek some quiet place of remove from the bustle of affairs, where their thoughts may run clear and tranquil, and the heats of business be for the time put off; but that cloistered refuge is no place to dream in.

Princeton for the Nation's Service, Inaugural address as President of Princeton (25 October 1902). Note: this speech is different from his 1896 speech of the same title.