A ginooine statesman should be on his guard,
Ef he must hev beliefs, nut to b’lieve ’em tu hard.

[A genuine statesman should be on his guard,
If he must have beliefs, not to believe them too hard.]

James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) American diplomat, essayist, poet

The Bigelow Papers: Second Series, ch. 5 (1867)