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In Its Main Features The Declaration Of Independence Is A Great Spiritual Document. It Is A Declaration Not Of Material But Of Spiritual Conceptions. Equality, Liberty, Popular Sovereignty, The Rights Of Man - These Are Not Elements Which We Can See And Touch. They Are Ideals. They Have Their Source And Their Roots In The Religious Convictions. They Belong To The Unseen World. Unless The Faith Of The American People In These Religious Convictions Is To Endure, The Principles Of Our Declaration Will Perish. We Can Not Continue To Enjoy The Result If We Neglect And Abandon The Cause.

-Calvin Coolidge

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In Its Main Features

Calvin Coolidge

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In Its Main Features The Declaration Of Independence Is A Great Spiritual Document. It Is A Declaration Not Of Material But Of Spiritual Conceptions. Equality, Liberty, Popular Sovereignty, The Rights Of Man - These Are Not Elements Which We Can See And Touch. They Are Ideals. They Have Their Source And Their Roots In The Religious Convictions. They Belong To The Unseen World. Unless The Faith Of The American People In These Religious Convictions Is To Endure, The Principles Of Our Declaration Will Perish. We Can Not Continue To Enjoy The Result If We Neglect And Abandon The Cause.

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The Chief Business Of The American People Is Business.

There Is New Life In The Soil For Every Man. There Is Healing In The Trees For Tired Minds And For Our Overburdened Spirits, There Is Strength In The Hills, If Only We Will Lift Up Our Eyes. Remember That Nature Is Your Great Restorer.

It Is Hard To See How A Great Man Can Be An Atheist. . . . We Need To Feel That Behind Us Is Intelligence And Love.

Heroism Is Not Only In The Man, But In The Occasion.

Our Domestic Problems Are For The Most Part Economic. We Have Our Enormous Debt To Pay, And We Are Paying It. We Have The High Cost Of Government To Diminish, And We Are Diminishing It. We Have A Heavy Burden Of Taxation To Reduce, And We Are Reducing It. But While Remarkable Progress Has Been Made In These Directions, The Work Is Yet Far From Accomplished.

Knowledge Comes, But Wisdom Lingers. It May Not Be Difficult To Store Up In The Mind A Vast Quantity Of Facts Within A Comparatively Short Time, But The Ability To Form Judgments Requires The Severe Discipline Of Hard Work And The Tempering Heat Of Experience And Maturity.

If We Judge Ourselves Only By Our Aspirations And Everyone Else Only Their Conduct We Shall Soon Reach A Very False Conclusion.

No Congress Of The United States Ever Assembled, On Surveying The State Of The Union, Has Met With A More Pleasing Prospect Than That Which Appears At The Present Time. In The Domestic Field There Is Tranquillity And Contentment, Harmonious Relations Between Management And Wage Earner, Freedom From Industrial Strife, And The Highest Record Of Years Of Prosperity.

The Suggestion Of Denying Any Measure Of Their Full Political Rights To Such A Great Group Of Our Population As The Colored People Is One Which, However It Might Be Received In Some Other Quarters, Could Not Possibly Be Permitted By One Who Feels A Responsibility For Living Up To The Traditions And Maintaining The Principles Of The Republican Party. Our Constitution Guarantees Equal Rights To All Our Citizens, Without Discrimination On Account Of Race Or Color. I Have Taken My Oath To Support That Constitution.

There Is No Justification For Public Interference With Purely Private Concerns.

The President Stands Between The Twin Mirrors Of The Past And Future, Causing His Being To Become Reflected An Infinite Amount Of Times. At First, This Can Be Very Disorienting. But It Induces The President To Move Quickly. He May, For Example, Mimic A Wave With His Arms In Order To See How His Actions Extend Across This Mirroring Of Time, Observing If The Figure At The End Acts At The Same Instant As The Figure Before Him, And So On And So Forth.

When A Man Begins To Feel That He Is The Only One Who Can Lead In This Republic, He Is Guilty Of Treason To The Spirit Of Our Institutions.

Government Price-fixing Once Started, Has Alike No Justice And No End. It Is An Economic Folly From Which This Country Has Every Right To Be Spared.

One Of The First Lessons A President Has To Learn Is That Every Word He Says Weighs A Ton.

It Is Much More Important To Kill Bad Bills Than To Pass Good Ones.

Libertarian Party

I Think The Senate Ought To Realize That I Have To Have About Me Those In Whom I Have Confidence; And Unless They Find A Real Blemish On A Man, I Do Not Think They Ought To Make Partisan Politics Out Of Appointments To The Cabinet.

If We Expect Others To Rely On Our Fairness And Justice We Must Show That We Rely On Their Fairness And Justice.

One Insidious Practice Which Sugar-coats The Dose Of Federal Intrusion Is The Division Of Expense . . .

Life Is One Darn Thing After Another.

War Is The Rule Of Force, And Peace Is The Reign Of Law.

There Is Only One Form Of Political Strategy In Which I Have Any Confidence, And That Is To Try To Do The Right Thing And Sometimes Be Able To Succeed.

We Insist On Producing A Farm Surplus, But Think The Government Should Find A Profitable Market For It. We Overindulge In Speculation, But Ask The Government To Prevent Panics. Now The Only Way To Hold The Government Entirely Responsible For Conditions Is To Give Up Our Liberty For A Dictatorship. If We Continue The More Reasonable Practice Of Managing Our Own Affairs We Must Bear The Burdens Of Our Own Mistakes. A Free People Cannot Shift Their Responsibility For Them To The Government. Self-government Means Self-reliance.

The Budget Idea, I May Admit, Is A Sort Of Obsession With Me. I Believe In Budgets. I Want Other People To Believe In Them. I Have Had A Small One To Run My Own Home; And Besides That, I Am The Head Of The Organization That Makes The Greatest Of All Budgets, That Of The United States Government. Do You Wonder, Then, That At Times I Dream Of Balance Sheets And Sinking Funds?

Prosperity Is Only An Instrument To Be Used, Not A Deity To Be Worshipped.

The Country Is Not In Good Condition.

Great Depression

I Should Think That An Ordinary Copy Of The King James Version Would Have Been Good Enough For Those Congressmen.

The Right Of The Police Of Boston To Affiliate Has Always Been Questioned, Never Granted, Is Now Prohibited.... There Is No Rightto Strike Against The Public Safety By Anybody, Anywhere, Any Time.

There Has Been Abroad Many Times Some Criticism Of Our Government, Of Our People, And Our Ways, But That Has Demonstrated, I Think, That When They Are In Real Trouble And Real Difficulty Over There, They Turn To Us As A Nation That Will Be Fair With Them--one In Whose Judgment And In Whose Character They Can Rely; And That Not Withstanding Differences That Have Seemed To Exist, They Are Willing To Abide By The Faith That They Have In Us, And I Think That Is A Very Substantial Accomplishment.

Persistence And Determination Alone Are Omnipotent.

The Benefit Of One Is The Benefit Of All, And The Neglect Of One Is The Neglect Of All.

General Welfare

Workmen’s Compensation, Hours And Conditions Of Labor Are Cold Consolations, If There Be No Employment.

Civilization And Profit Go Hand In Hand.

Freedom Is Not Only Bought With A Great Price; It Is Maintained By Unremitting Effort.

The Government Of The United States Is A Device For Maintaining In Perpetuity The Rights Of The People, With The Ultimate Extinction Of All Privileged Classes.

Don't Hesitate To Be As Revolutionary As Science. Don't Hesitate To Be As Reactionary As The Multiplication Table.

The Strength Of A Country Is The Strength Of Its Religious Convictions.

The Business Of The Country Is Business.

Man Everywhere Has An Unconquerable Desire To Be The Master Of His Own Destiny.

To Place Your Name By Gift Or Bequest In The Keeping Of An Active Educational Institution Is To...make A Permanent Contribution To The Welfare Of Humanity.

Can Those Entrusted With The Gravest Authority Set Any Example Save That Of The Sternest Obedience To The Law?

It Takes A Great Man To Be A Good Listener.

Wherever Despotism Abounds, The Sources Of Public Information Are The First To Be Brought Under Its Control. Where Ever The Cause Of Liberty Is Making Its Way, One Of Its Highest Accomplishments Is The Guarantee Of The Freedom Of The Press.

Freedom Of Speech

You Can't Know Too Much, But You Can Say Too Much.

Restricted Immigration Is Not An Offensive But Purely A Defensive Action. It Is Not Adopted In Criticism Of Others In The Slightest Degree, But Solely For The Purpose Of Protecting Ourselves. We Cast No Aspersions On Any Race Or Creed, But We Must Remember That Every Object Of Our Institutions Of Society And Government Will Fail Unless America Be Kept American.

You Can't Increase Prosperity By Taxing Success.

It Has Become The Custom In Our Country To Expect All Chief Executives, From The President Down, To Conduct Activities Analogous To An Entertainment Bureau. No Occasion Is Too Trivial For Its Promoters To Invite Them To Attend And Deliver An Address.

I Shouldn't Want You To Be Surprised, Or To Draw Any Particular Inference From My Making Speeches, Or Not Making Speeches, Out There. I Don't Recall Any Candidate For President That Ever Injured Himself Very Much By Not Talking.

If All Men Are Created Equal, That Is Final. If They Are Endowed With Inalienable Rights, That Is Final. If Governments Derive Their Just Powers From The Consent Of The Governed, That Is Final. No Advance, No Progress Can Be Made Beyond These Propositions.

We Cannot Permit Any Inquisition Either Within Or Without The Law Or Apply Any Religious Test To The Holding Of Office. The Mind Of America Must Be Forever Free.

It Is Only When Men Begin To Worship That They Begin To Grow.

The Only Difference Between A Mob And A Trained Army Is Organization.

I Want The People To Work Less For The Government And More For Themselves. I Want Them To Have The Rewards Of Their Own Industry.

Inflation Is Repudiation.

I Favor The Policy Of Economy, Not Because I Wish To Save Money, But Because I Wish To Save People.

Never Go Out To Meet Trouble. If You Just Sit Still, Nine Cases Out Of Ten, Someone Will Intercept It Before It Reaches You.

In The Discharge Of The Duties Of This Office, There Is One Rule Of Action More Important Than All Others. It Consists In Never Doing Anything That Someone Else Can Do For You.

Coolidge Expressed His "sympathy With The Deep And Intense Longing Which Finds Such Fine Expression In The Jewish National Homeland In Palestine."

It Has Not Been My Fortune To Know Very Much Of Freemasonry, But I Have Had The Great Fortune To Know Many Freemasons And Have Been Able In That Way To Judge The Tree By Its Fruit. I Know Of Your High Ideals. I Have Seen That You Hold Your Meetings In The Presence Of The Open Bible, And I Know That Men Who Observe That Formality Have High Sentiments Of Citizenship, Of Worth, And Character. That Is The Strength Of Our Commonwealth And Nation.

The People Cannot Look To Legislation Generally For Success. Industry, Thrift, Character, Are Not Conferred By Act Or Resolve. Government Cannot Relieve From Toil. It Can Provide No Substitute For The Rewards Of Service. It Can, Of Course, Care For The Defective And Recognize Distinguished Merit. The Normal Must Care For Themselves. Self-government Means Self-support.

Self-government Means Self Support.

The Slogan 'press On' Has Solved And Always Will Solve The Problems Of The Human Race.

Education Should Be The Handmaid Of Citizenship.

We Want Wealth, But There Are Many Other Things We Want Very Much More. Among Them Are Peace, Honor, Charity, And Idealism.

There Is No Right To Strike Against The Public Safety By Anybody, Anywhere, Any Time.

When More And More People Are Thrown Out Of Work, Unemployment Results.

The Only Way I Know To Drive Out Evil From The Country Is By The Constructive Method Of Filling It With Good.

Anytime You Don't Want Anything You Get It.

It Is Difficult For Men In High Office To Avoid The Malady Of Self-delusion

The Presidency Does Not Yield To Definition. Like The Glory Of A Morning Sunrise, It Can Be Experienced.

Unless The People, Through Unified Action, Arise And Take Charge Of Their Government, They Will Find That Their Government Has Taken Charge Of Them. Independence And Liberty Will Be Gone, And The General Public Will Find Itself In A Condition Of Servitude To An Aggregation Of Organized And Selfish Interest.

One Day The President And Mrs. Coolidge Were Visiting A Government Farm. Soon After Their Arrival They Were Taken Off On Separate Tours. When Mrs. Coolidge Passed The Chicken Pens She Paused To Ask The Man In Charge If The Rooster Copulates More Than Once Each Day. "dozens Of Times, Was The Reply." "please Tell That To The President," Mrs. Coolidge Requested. When The President Passed The Pens And Was Told About The Roosters, He Asked "same Hen Every Time?" "oh No, Mr. President, A Different One Each Time." The President Nodded Slowly, Then Said, "tell That To Mrs. Coolidge."

Nothing Is More Common Than Unsuccessful People With Talent.

Procrastination

What The End Of The Carnage Of World War Ii Meant To Those Who Remember It, Can Never Be Forgotten, But To All Those Who Don't, Its Meaning Can Never Be Fully Understood!

No Enterprise Can Exist For Itself Alone.

Profitable Business

Men Do Not Make Laws. They Do But Discover Them.

The Chief Business Of America Is Business.

It Is Not In Violence And Crime That Our Greatest Danger Lies. These Evils Are So Perfectly Apparent That They Very Quickly Arouse The Moral Power Of The People For Their Suppression. A Far More Serious Danger Lurks In The Shirking Of Those Responsibilities Of Citizenship, Where The Evil May Not Be So Noticeable But Is More Insidious And Likely To Be More Devastating.

The Best Help That Benevolence And Philanthropy Can Give Is That Which Induces Everybody To Help Himself.

Little Progress Can Be Made By Merely Attempting To Repress What Is Evil. Our Great Hope Lies In Developing What Is Good.

Men Speak Of Natural Rights, But I Challenge Any One To Show Where In Nature Any Rights Existed Or Were Recognized Until There Was Established For Their Declaration And Protection A Duly Promulgated Body Of Corresponding Laws.

The American Revolution Represented The Informed And Mature Convictions Of A Great Mass Of Independent, Liberty-loving, God-fearing People Who Knew Their Rights, And Possessed The Courage To Dare To Maintain Them.

If You See Ten Troubles Coming Down The Road, You Can Be Sure That Nine Will Run Into The Ditch Before They Reach You.

Positive Thinking

The Words Of The President Have An Enormous Weight And Ought Not To Be Used Indiscriminately.

Measured By The Standards Of Men Of Their Time, [the Pilgrims] Were The Humble Of The Earth. Measured By Later Accomplishments, They Were The Mighty. In Appearance Weak And Persecuted They Came -- Rejected, Despised -- An Insignificant Band; In Reality Strong And Independent, A Mighty Host Of Whom The World Was Not Worthy Destined To Free Mankind.

In A Republic The First Rule For The Guidance Of The Citizen Is Obedience Of The Law.

It Is Hard To See How A Great Man Can Be An Atheist. Without The Sustaining Influence Of Faith In A Divine Power We Could Have Little Faith In Ourselves. We Need To Feel That Behind Us Is Intelligence And Love. Doubters Do Not Achieve; Skeptics Do Not Contribute; Cynics Do Not Create. Faith Is The Great Motive Power, And No Man Realizes His Full Possibilities Unless He Has The Deep Conviction That Life Is Eternally Important, And That His Work, Well Done, Is A Part Of An Unending Plan.

You Can Display No Greater Wisdom Than By Resisting Proposals For Needless Legislation. It Is Much More Important To Kill Bad Bills Than To Pass Good Ones.

One Of The Greatest Perils To An Extensive Republic Is The Disregard Of Individual Rights.

Nordics Deteriorate When Mixed With Other Races.

The Welfare Of The Weakest And The Welfare Of The Most Powerful Are Inseparably Bound Together. ... The General Welfare Cannot Be Provided For In Any One Act, But It Is Well To Remember That The Benefit Of One Is The Benefit Of All, And The Neglect Of One Is The Neglect Of All.

No Man Ever Listened Himself Out Of A Job.

The Right Thing To Do Never Requires Any Subterfuge, It Is Always Simple And Direct.

Because Of What America Is And What America Has Done, A Firmer Courage, A Higher Hope, Inspires The Heart Of All Humanity.

The Most Common Commodity In This Country Is Unrealized Potential.

The Property Of The People Belongs To The People. To Take It From Them By Taxation Cannot Be Justified Except By Urgent Public Necessity. Unless This Principle Be Recognized Our Country Is No Longer Secure, Our People No Longer Free.

I Do Not Choose To Run For President In 1928.

A Government Which Requires Of The People The Contribution Of The Bulk Of Their Substance And Rewards Cannot Be Classed As A Free Government.

It Is Very Difficult To Reconcile The American Ideal Of A Sovereign People Capable Of Owning And Managing Their Own Government With An Inability To Own And Manage Their Own Business.

These Things Do Not Happen By Chance. There Is Much Less Luck In Public Affairs Than Some Suppose.

Those Who Want Their Rights Respected Under The Constitution And The Law Ought To Set The Example Themselves Of Observing The Constitution And The Law. While There May Be Those Of High Intelligence Who Violate The Law At Times, The Barbarian And The Defective Always Violate It. Those Who Disregard The Rules Of Society Are Not Exhibiting A Superior Intelligence, Are Not Promoting Freedom And Independence, Are Not Following The Path Of Civilization, But Are Displaying The Traits Of Ignorance, Of Servitude, Of Savagery, And Treading The Way That Leads Back To The Jungle.

The More I Study It [the Constitution], The More I Have Come To Admire It, Realizing That No Other Document Devised By The Hand Of Man Ever Brought So Much Progress And Happiness To Humanity.

Coincident With The Right Of Individual Property Under The Provisions Of Our Government Is The Right Of Individual Property. . . . When Once The Right Of The Individual To Liberty And Equality Is Admitted, There Is No Escape From The Conclusion That He Alone Is Entitled To The Rewards Of His Own Industry. Any Other Conclusion Would Necessarily Imply Either Privilege Or Servitude.

The Doctrine Of The Declaration Of Independence Predicated Upon The Glory Of Man And The Corresponding Duty To Society That The Rights Of Citizens Ought To Be Protected With Every Power And Resource Of The State, And A Government That Does Any Less Is False To The Teachings Of That Great Document - False To The Name American.

The Fundamental Precept Of Liberty Is Toleration.

Wherever Despotism Abounds, The Sources Of Public Information Are The First To Be Brought Under Its Control.

It Is Accordance With Our Determination To Refrain From Aggression And Build Up A Sentiment And Practice Among Nations More Favorable To Peace, That We Ratified A Treaty For The Limitation Of Naval Armaments Made In 1921, Earnestly Sought For A Further Extension Of This Principle In 1927, And Have Secured The Consent Of Fourteen Important Nations To The Negotiation Of A Treaty Condemning Recourse To War, Renouncing It Is An Instrument Of National Policy, And Pledging Each Other To Seek No Solution Of Their Disagreements Except By Pacific Means.

We Live An Age Of Science And Of Abounding Accumulation Of Material Things. These Did Not Create The Declaration. Our Declaration Created Them. ... If We Are To Maintain The Great Heritage Which Has Been Bequeathed To Us, We Must Be Like-minded As The Fathers Who Created It.

You Have To Stand Every Day Three Or Four Hours Of Visitors. Nine-tenths Of Them Want Something They Ought Not To Have. If You Keep Dead-still They Will Run Down In Three Or Four Minutes. If You Even Cough Or Smile They Will Start Up All Over Again.

Business Will Be Either Better Or Worse.

I Am For Economy. After That I Am For More Economy. At This Time And Under Present Conditions That Is My Conception Of Serving All The People.

All Growth Depends Upon Activity.

If The Government Gets Into Business On Any Large Scale, We Soon Find That The Beneficiaries Attempt To Play A Large Part In The Control. While In Theory It Is To Serve The Public, In Practice It Will Be Very Largely Serving Private Interests. It Comes To Be Regarded As A Species Of Government Favor And Those Who Are The Most Adroit Get The Larger Part Of It.

Baseball Is Our National Game.

Perhaps One Of The Most Important Accomplishments Of My Administration Has Been Minding My Own Business.

I Think The American Public Wants A Solemn Ass As A President, And I Think I'll Go Along With Them.

The Door Of Opportunity Swings Wide Open In Our Country. Through It, In Constant Flow, Go Those Who Toil. America Recognizes No Aristocracy Save Those Who Work. The Badge Of Service Is The Sole Requirement For Admission To The Ranks Of Our Nobility.

Well, Farmers Never Have Made Money. I Don't Believe We Can Do Much About It. But Of Course We Will Have To Seem To Be Doing Something; Do The Best We Can And Without Much Hope. The Life Of The Farmer Has Its Compensations But It Has Always Been One Of Hardship.

Character Is The Only Secure Foundation Of The State.

Not Long Ago I Heard A Navy Chaplain Refer To The Sage Advice Of The Apostle To Put First Things First...if We Are To Heed The Admonition To Put First Things First...one Of The Main Essentials Which Lies At The Very Beginning Of Civilization Is That Of Security.

The Measure Discriminates Definitely Against Products Which Make Up What Has Been Universally Considered A Program Of Safe Farming. The Bill Upholds As Ideals Of American Farming The Men Who Grow Cotton, Corn, Rice, Swine, Tobacco, Or Wheat And Nothing Else. These Are To Be Given Special Favors At The Expense Of The Farmer Who Has Toiled For Years To Build Up A Constructive Farming Enterprise To Include A Variety Of Crops And Livestock.

We Have Got So Many Regulatory Laws Already That In General I Feel That We Would Be Just As Well Off If We Didn't Have Any More.

We Do Not Need More Material Development, We Need More Spiritual Development. We Do Not Need More Intellectual Power, We Need More Moral Power. We Do Not Need More Knowledge, We Need More Character. We Do Not Need More Government, We Need More Culture. We Do Not Need More Law, We Need More Religion. We Do Not Need More Of The Things That Are Seen, We Need More Of The Things That Are Unseen. It Is On That Side Of Life That It Is Desirable To Put The Emphasis At The Present Time. If That Side Be Strengthened, The Other Side Will Take Care Of Itself.

Our Doctrine Of Equality And Liberty And Humanity Comes From Our Belief In The Brotherhood Of Man, Through The Fatherhood Of God.

Brotherhood Of Man

Changing A College Curriculum Is Like Moving A Graveyard-you Never Know How Many Friends The Dead Have Until You Try To Move Them!

Ultimately Property Rights And Personal Rights Are The Same Thing.

Nature Is Inexorable. If Men Do Not Follow The Truth They Cannot Live.

I Guess I Am Not Naturally Energetic. I Like To Sit Around And Talk.

I Want Taxes To Be Less, That The People May Have More.

Your Ability To Face Setbacks And Disappointments Without Giving Up Will Be The Measure Of Your Ability To Succeed.

When Each Citizen Submits Himself To The Authority Of Law He Does Not Thereby Decrease His Independence Or Freedom, But Rather Increases It. By Recognizing That He Is A Part Of A Larger Body Which Is Banded Together For A Common Purpose, He Becomes More Than An Individual, He Rises To A New Dignity Of Citizenship. Instead Of Finding Himself Restricted And Confined By Rendering Obedience To Public Law, He Finds Himself Protected And Defended And In The Exercise Of Increased And Increasing Rights.

I Do Not Want To See Any Of The People Cringing Supplicants For The Favor Of The Government, When They Should All Be Independent Masters Of Their Own Destiny.

While I Do Not Think It Was So Intended I Have Always Been Of The Opinion That This Turned Out To Be Much The Best For Me. I Had No National Experience. What I Have Ever Been Able To Do Has Been The Result Of First Learning How To Do It. I Am Not Gifted With Intuition. I Need Not Only Hard Work But Experience To Be Ready To Solve Problems. The Presidents Who Have Gone To Washington Without First Having Held Some National Office Have Been At Great Disadvantage.

The Things I Never Say Never Get Me Into Trouble.

Never Say Never

The Man Who Builds A Factory, Builds A Temple.

Whenever Nature's Bounty Is In Danger Of Exhaustion, The Chemist Has Sought For A Substitute. The Conquest Of Disease Has Made Great Progress As A Result Of Your Efforts. Wherever We Look, The Work Of The Chemist Has Raised The Level Of Our Civilization And Has Increased The Productive Capacity Of The Nation. Waste Materials, Formerly Cast Aside, Are Now Being Utilized.

The Higher State To Which [america] Seeks The Allegiance Of All Mankind Is Not Of Human, But Of Divine Origin. She Cherishes No Purpose Save To Merit The Favor Of Almighty God.

At First I Intended To Become A Student Of The Senate Rules And I Did Learn Much About Them, But I Soon Found That The Senate Hadbut One Fixed Rule, Subject To Exceptions Of Course, Which Was To The Effect That The Senate Would Do Anything It Wanted To Do Whenever It Wanted To Do It.

We Have Too Much Legislating By Clamor, By Tumult, By Pressure. Representative Government Ceases When Outside Influence Of Any Kind Is Substituted For The Judgment Of The Representative.

What We Need In Appointive Positions Is Men Of Knowledge And Experience Who Have Sufficient Character To Resist Temptations.

Our Country Represents Nothing But Peaceful Intentions Toward All The Earth, But It Ought Not To Fail To Maintain Such A Military Force As Comports With The Dignity And Security Of A Great People.

We Cannot Weaken Or Destroy Political Parties In Ther United States Without Weakening Or Destroying The Rule Of The People.... Those Who Support Party Organization And Submit To Party Discipline Are Supporting The Only Course Yet Discovered For Orderly Government By The People.

I Cannot Think Of Anything Characteristically American That Was Not Produced By Toil. I Cannot Think Of Any American Man Or Woman Preeminent In The History Of Our Nation Who Did Not Reach Their Place Through Toil. I Cannot Think Of Anything That Represents The American People As A Whole So Adequately As Honest Work.

We Must Have No Carelessness In Our Dealings With Public Property Or The Expenditure Of Public Money. Such A Condition Is Characteristic Either Of An Undeveloped People, Or Of A Decadent Civilization. America Is Neither.

They [the Founding Fathers] Were Intent Upon Establishing A Christian Commonwealth In Accordance With The Principle Of Self-government. They Were An Inspired Body Of Men. It Has Been Said That God Sifted The Nations That He Might Send Choice Grain Into The Wilderness ... Who Can Fail To See It In The Hand Of Destiny? Who Can Doubt That It Has Been Guided By A Divine Providence?

Wherever We Look, The Work Of The Chemist Has Raised The Level Of Our Civilization And Has Increased The Productive Capacity Of The Nation.

Prosperity Cannot Be Divorced From Humanity.

It Is Necessary To Have Party Organization If We Are To Have Effective And Efficient Government. The Only Difference Between A Mob And A Trained Army Is Organization, And The Only Difference Between A Disorganized Country And One That Has The Advantage Of A Wise And Sound Government Is Fundamentally A Question Of Organization.

They Criticize Me For Harping On The Obvious; If All The Folks In The United States Would Do The Few Simple Things They Know They Ought To Do, Most Of Our Big Problems Would Take Care Of Themselves.

I Should Be Very Sorry To See The United States Holding Anyone In Confinement On Account Of Any Opinion That That Person Might Hold. It Is A Fundamental Tenet Of Our Institutions That People Have A Right To Believe What They Want To Believe And Hold Such Opinions As They Want To Hold Without Having To Answer To Anyone For Their Private Opinion.

America... Cherishes No Purpose Save To Merit The Favor Of Almighty God.

Industry Cannot Flourish If Labor Languish.

All Growth Depends Upon Activity. There Is No Development Physically Or Intellectually Without Effort, And Effort Means Work.

The Collection Of Taxes Which Are Not Absolutely Required, Which Do Not Beyond Reasonable Doubt Contribute To Public Welfare, Is Only A Species Of Legalized Larceny. Under This Republic The Rewards Of Industry Belong To Those Who Earn Them.

Why Don't We Just Buy One Airplane And Let The Pilots Take Turns Flying It.

You Don't Have To Explain Something You Never Said.

There Is No Surer Road To Destruction Than Prosperity Without Character.

We Have Found That When Men And Women Are Left Free To Find The Places For Which They Are Best Fitted, Some Few Of Them Will Indeed Attain Less Exalted Stations Than Under A Regime Of Privilege; But The Vast Multitude Will Rise To A Higher Level, To Wider Horizons, To Worthier Attainments.

While Legislation Can Stimulate And Encourage, The Real Creative Ability Which Builds Up And Develops The Country, And In General Makes Human Existence More Tolerable And Life More Complete, Has To Be Supplied By The Genius Of The People Themselves. The Government Can Supply No Substitute For Enterprise.

I Want The People Of America To Be Able To Work Less For The Government And More For Themselves. I Want Them To Have The Rewards Of Their Own Industry. This Is The Chief Meaning Of Freedom. Until We Can Reestablish A Condition Under Which The Earnings Of The People Can Be Kept By The People, We Are Bound To Suffer A Very Severe And Distinct Curtailment Of Our Liberty.

We Do Not Need To Import Any Foreign Economic Ideas Or Any Foreign Government. We Had Better Stick To The American Brand Of Government, The American Brand Of Equality, And The American Brand Of Wages. America Had Better Stay American

If There Is To Be Responsible Party Government, The Party Label Must Be Something More Than A Mere Device For Securing Office. Unless Those Who Are Elected Under The Same Party Designation Are Willing To Assume Sufficient Responsibility And Exhibit Sufficient Loyalty And Coherence, So That They Can Cooperate With Each Other In The Support Of The Broad General Principles, Of The Party Platform, The Election Is Merely A Mockery, No Decision Is Made At The Polls, And There Is No Representation Of The Popular Will.

No Advance, No Progress Can Be Made Beyond These Propositions. If Anyone Wishes To Deny Their Truth Or Their Soundness, The Only Direction In Which He Can Proceed Historically Is Not Forward, But Backward Toward A Time When There Was No Equality, No Rights Of The Individual, No Rule Of The People. Those Who Wish To Proceed In That Direction Cannot Lay Claim To Progress. They Are Reactionary. Their Ideas Are Not More Modern, But More Ancient Than Those Of Our Revolutionary Ancestors.

If You Can Get Enough Votes So That Mine Will Make A Majority, You Can Have It.

The Constitution Is The Sole Source And Guaranty Of National Freedom.

Doubters Do Not Achieve; Skeptics Do Not Contribute; Cynics Do Not Create.

The Centralization Of Power In Washington, Which Nearly All Members Of Congress Deplore In Their Speech And Then Support By Their Votes, Steadily Increases.

I Have Found It Advisable Not To Give Too Much Heed To What People Say When I Am Trying To Accomplish Something Of Consequence. Invariably They Proclaim It Can't Be Done. I Deem That The Very Best Time To Make The Effort.

There Have Been Great Men With Little Of What We Call Education. There Have Been Many Small Men With A Great Deal Of Learning. There Has Never Been A Great People Who Did Not Possess Great Learning.

Nothing In The World Can Take The Place Of Persistence.

The World Is Full Of Educated Derelicts.

There Are Always Those Who Are Willing To Surrender Local Self-government And Turn Over Their Affairs To Some National Authority In Exchange For A Payment Of Money Out Of The Federal Treasury. Whenever They Find Some Abuse Needs Correction In Their Neighborhood, Instead Of Applying The Remedy Themselves They Seek To Have A Tribunal Sent On From Washington To Discharge Their Duties For Them, Regardless Of The Fact That In Accepting Such Supervision They Are Bartering Away Their Freedom.

A Colored Man Is Precisely As Much Entitled To Submit His Candidacy In A Party Primary, As Is Any Other Citizen. The Decision Must Be Made By The Constituents To Whom He Offers Himself, And By Nobody Else.

Money Will Not Purchase Character Or Good Government.

Faith Is The Great Motive Power, And No Man Realizes His Full Possibilities Unless He Has The Deep Conviction That Life Is Eternally Important And That His Work Well Done Is A Part Of An Unending Plan.

We Need More Of The Office Desk And Less Of The Show Window In Politics. Let Men In Office Substitute The Midnight Oil For The Limelight.

Silence Can Never Be Misquoted.

If A Painting Of A Tree Was Only The Exact Representation Of The Original, So That It Looked Just Like The Tree, There Would Be No Reason For Making It; We Might As Well Look At The Tree Itself. But The Painting, If It Is Of The Right Sort, Gives Something That Neither A Photograph Nor A View Of The Tree Conveys. It Emphasizes Something Of Character, Quality, Individuality. We Are Not Lost In Looking At Thorns And Defects; We Catch A Vision Of The Grandeur And Beauty Of A King Of The Forest.

We Identify The Flag With Almost Everything We Hold Dear On Earth, Peace, Security, Liberty, Our Family, Our Friends, Our Home. . .but When We Look At Our Flag And Behold It Emblazoned With All Our Rights We Must Remember That It Is Equally A Symbol Of Our Duties. Every Glory That We Associate With It Is The Result Of Duty Done.

When People Are Bewildered They Tend To Become Credulous.

This Is As Good A Time As Any To Comment On What I Think Has Grown Into An Abuse. Congress Makes Holidays And Every Time There Isa Holiday It Is The Practice For One Department To Telephone Over To Another Department And Say We Are Going To Have An Extra Holiday In This Department And What Is Your Department Going To Do About It.... If It Comes On Saturday, They Want A Holiday On Friday, And Of Course They Couldn't Come Back And Travel On Sunday And So They Want Another Holiday On Monday To Get Back On.

Four-fifths Of All Our Troubles Would Disappear, If We Would Only Sit Down And Keep Still.

Whether One Traces His Americanism Back Three Centuries To The Mayflower, Or Three Years To The Steerage, Is Not Half So Important As Whether His Americanism Of Today Is Real And Genuine. No Matter By What Various Crafts We Came Here, We Are All Now In The Same Boat.

Good Government Cannot Be Found On The Bargain-counter. We Have Seen Samples Of Bargain-counter Government In The Past When Low Tax Rates Were Secured By Increasing The Bonded Debt For Current Expenses Or Refusing To Keep Our Institutions Up To The Standard In Repairs, Extensions, Equipment, And Accommodations. I Refuse, And The Republican Party Refuses, To Endorse That Method Of Sham And Shoddy Economy.

School Is Not The End But Only The Beginning Of An Education.

Duty Is Not Collective; It Is Personal.

If The People Fail To Vote, A Government Will Be Developed Which Is Not Their Government... The Whole System Of American Government Rests On The Ballot Box. Unless Citizens Perform Their Duties There, Such A System Of Government Is Doomed To Failure.

What America Needs Is To Hold To Its Ancient And Well-charted Course. Our Country Was Conceived In The Theory Of Local Self-government. It Has Been Dedicated By Long Practice To That Wise And Beneficent Policy. It Is The Foundation Principle Of Our System Of Liberty. It Makes The Largest Promise To The Freedom And Development Of The Individual. Its Preservation Is Worth All The Effort And All The Sacrifice That It May Cost.

There Is No Dignity Quite So Impressive, And No One Independence Quite So Important, As Living Within Your Means.

Christmas Is Not A Time Nor A Season, But A State Of Mind. To Cherish Peace And Goodwill, To Be Plenteous In Mercy, Is To Have The Real Spirit Of Christmas.

Under Our Institutions The Only Way To Perfect The Government Is To Perfect The Individual Citizen. It Is Necessary To Reach The Mind And Soul Of The Individual. I Know Of No Way That This Can Be Done Save Through The Influence Of Religion And Education. By Religion I Do Not Mean Fanaticism Or Bigotry; By Education I Do Not Mean The Cant Of The Schools, But A Broad And Tolerant Faith, Loving Thy Neighbor As Thyself, And A Training And Experience That Enables The Human Mind To See Into The Heart Of Things.

Works Which Endure Come From The Soul Of The People. The Mighty In Their Pride Walk Alone To Destruction. The Humble Walk Hand In Hand With Providence To Immortality. Their Works Survive.

Collecting More Taxes Than Is Absolutely Necessary Is Legalized Robbery.

I Sometimes Wish That People Would Put A Little More Emphasis Upon The Observance Of The Law Than They Do Upon Its Enforcement.

Teaching Is One Of The Noblest Of Professions. It Requires An Adequate Preparation And Training, Patience, Devotion, And A Deep Sense Of Responsibility. Those Who Mold The Human Mind Have Wrought Not For Time, But For Eternity.

Wealth Comes From Industry And From The Hard Experience Of Human Toil. To Dissipate It In Waste And Extravagance Is Disloyalty To Humanity.

Industry, Thrift And Self-control Are Not Sought Because They Create Wealth, But Because They Create Character.

The Appropriation Of Public Money Always Is Perfectly Lovely Until Some One Is Asked To Pay The Bill. If We Are To Have A Billion Dollars Of Navy, Half A Billion Of Farm Relief, Etc... The People Will Have To Furnish More Revenue By Paying More Taxes. It Is For Them, Through Their Congress, To Decide How Far They Wish To Go.

There Is No Substitute For A Militant Freedom.

It Is A Great Advantage To A President, And A Major Source Of Safety To The Country, For Him To Know He Is Not A Great Man.

Patriotism Is Easy To Understand In America. It Means Looking Out For Yourself By Looking Out For Your Country.

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