"I am for the world's salvation, I will quarrel with no means that promises help."
Refusing to be limited by tradition, William and Catherine Booth set out in 1861 to take the gospel to whomever would listen. Using street meetings, parades, marching bands, and posters, the Booths and their followers attracted people who felt unwelcomed by traditional churches.

"Why should the devil have all the best tunes?"
This is what William Booth replied when chided for appropriating the music of popular tunes for his hymnes.

"... you cannot make a man clean [simply] by washing his shirt."
William Booth had become an authority on what to do about the alleviation of human suffering and the removal of poverty, but more than anything he wanted kings, governors, and politicians to understand what he often told his Army officers.

"While women weep as they do now, I'll fight; while little children go hungry as they do now, I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, I'll fight; while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, I'll fight; where there yet remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight -- I'll fight to the very end."
On his eighty-third birthday, William was able to enjoy a large celebration in his honor. In May 1912, he addressed ten thousand people in Albert Hall, his last public appearance. They heard the bent and nearly blind old man speak the words above.

"I will tell you the secret. God has had all there was of me."
On one of his last visits to the United States, William Booth was asked to tell what has been the secret of his success.