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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.

-Calvin Coolidge

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This Is As Good

Calvin Coolidge

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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.

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Honorable Senators: My Sincerest Thanks I Offer You. Conserve The Firm Foundations Of Our Institutions. Do Your Work With The Spirit Of A Soldier In The Public Service. Be Loyal To The Commonwealth And To Yourselves And Be Brief; Above All Be Brief.

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

No Man Ever Listened Himself Out Of A Job.

The Duties Which A Police Officer Owes To The State Are Of A Most Exacting Nature. No One Is Compelled To Choose The Profession Ofa Police Officer, But Having Chosen It, Everyone Is Obliged To Live Up To The Standard Of Its Requirements. To Join In That High Enterprise Means The Surrender Of Much Individual Freedom.

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.

Collecting More Taxes Than Is Absolutely Necessary Is Legalized Robbery.

There Is Far More Danger Of Harm Than There Is Hope Of Good In Any Radical Changes.

The Chief Business Of America Is Business.

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

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

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.

Character Is The Only Secure Foundation Of The State.

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

We Do Not Need More Knowledge, We Need More Character!

The Chief Business Of The American People Is Business.

Governments Do Not Make Ideals, But Ideals Make Governments. This Is Both Historically And Logically True. Of Course The Government Can Help To Sustain Ideals And Can Create Institutions Through Which They Can Be The Better Observed, But Their Source By Their Very Nature Is In The People. The People Have To Bear Their Own Responsibilities. There Is No Method By Which That Burden Can Be Shifted To The Government. It Is Not The Enactment, But The Observance Of Laws, That Creates The Character Of A Nation.

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.

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 Equally Clear That A Government Must Govern, Must Prescribe And Enforce Laws Within Its Sphere Or Cease To Be A Government. Moreover, The Individual Must Be Independent And Free Within His Own Sphere Or Cease To Be An Individual. The Fundamental Question Was Then, Is Now, And Always Will Be Through What Adjustments, By What Actions, These Principles May Be Applied.

America Has Many Glories. The Last One That She Would Wish To Surrender Is The Glory Of The Men Who Have Served Her In War. While Such Devotion Lives, The Nation Is Secure. Whatever Dangers May Threaten From Within Or Without, She Can View Them Calmly. Turning To Her Veterans, She Can Say: 'these Are Our Defenders. They Are Invincible. In Them Is Our Safety.'

When People Are Bewildered They Tend To Become Credulous.

All Growth Depends Upon Activity.

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.

No Enterprise Can Exist For Itself Alone.

Profitable Business

Any Man Who Does Not Like Dogs And Want Them About Does Not Deserve To Be In The White House.

One With The Law Is A Majority.

Any Reward That Is Worth Having Only Comes To The Industrious. The Success Which Is Made In Any Walk Of Life Is Measured Almost Exactly By The Amount Of Hard Work That Is Put Into It.

America Has But One Main Problem -- The Character Of The Men And Women It Shall Produce.

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.

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.

We Do Not Need More Intellectual Power, We Need More Spiritual Power. We Do Not Need More Of The Things That Are Seen, We Need More Of The Things That Are Unseen.

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

The Final Solution For Unemployment Is Work.

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

It Is All The More Necessary Under A System Of Free Government That The People Should Be Enlightened, That They Should Be Correctly Informed, Than It Is Under An Absolute Government That They Should Be Ignorant. Under A Republic The Institutions Of Learning, While Bound By The Constitution And Laws, Are In No Way Subservient To The Government.

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.

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.

Self-government Means Self Support.

I Always Enjoy Animal Acts.

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.

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.

The Jews Themselves, Of Whom A Considerable Number Were Already Scattered Throughout The Colonies, Were True To The Teachings Of Their Prophets. The Jewish Faith Is Predominantly The Faith Of Liberty.

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.

If I Had Permitted My Failures, Or What Seemed To Me At The Time A Lack Of Success, To Discourage Me I Cannot See Any Way In Which I Would Ever Have Made Progress.

Congratulations

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.

It Is Only When People Can Feel That Their Lives And The Property Which Their Industry Has Produced Today Will Continue To Be Safe...that There Can Be...stability Of Value And...economic Progress.

The Nation Which Forgets Its Defenders Will Be Itself Forgotten.

Christmas Is Not A Time Or A Season But A State Of Mind.

I Appeal To Amherst Men To Reiterate The Amherst Doctrine That The Man Who Builds A Factory Builds A Temple, That The Man Who Works There Worships There, And To Each Is Due Not Scorn And Blame But Reverence And Praise.

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.

One Of The Greatest Dangers To Peace Lies In The Economic Pressure To Which People Find Themselves Subjected. One Of The Most Practical Things To Be Done In The World Is To Seek Arrangements Under Which Such Pressure May Be Removed, So That Opportunity May Be Renewed And Hope May Be Revived.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

The Fundamental Precept Of Liberty Is Toleration.

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.

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

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.

Economy Is The Method By Which We Prepare Today To Afford The Improvements Of Tomorrow.

History Reveals No Civilized People Among Whom There Was Not A Highly Educated Class And Large Aggregations Of Wealth. Large Profits Mean Large Payrolls.

No Person Was Ever Honored For What He Received. Honor Has Been The Reward For What He Gave.

Motivational Sports

Of Course, The Accumulation Of Wealth Cannot Be Justified As The Chief End Of Existence.

The Danger To America Is Not In The Direction Of The Failure To Maintain Its Economic Position, But In The Direction Of The Failure To Maintain Its Ideals.

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.

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.

Persistence And Determination Alone Are Omnipotent.

The Business Of The Country Is Business.

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

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.

Advertising Ministers To The Spiritual Side Of Trade. It Is Great Power That Has Been Entrusted To Your Keeping Which Charges You With The High Responsibility Of Inspiring And Ennobling The Commercial World. It Is All Part Of The Greater Work Of The Regeneration And Redemption Of Mankind.

We Cannot Do Everything At Once, But We Can Do Something At Once.

Nothing Is More Common Than Unsuccessful People With Talent.

Procrastination

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

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

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.

To Live Under The American Constitution Is The Greatest Political Privilege That Was Ever Accorded To The Human Race.

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.

[the Reason A Man Has] So Much Trouble With The Senate Is That There Isn't A Man In The Senate Who Doesn't Think He Is Better Suited To Be President Than The President, And Thinks He Might Have Been President Except For Luck.

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.

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.

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

I Always Figured The American Public Wanted A Solemn Ass For President, So I Went Along With Them.

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.

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.

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.

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

Parties Do Not Maintain Themselves. They Are Maintained By Effort. The Government Is Not Self-existent. It Is Maintained By The Effort Of Those Who Believe In It. The People Of America Believe In American Institutions, The American Form Of Government And The American Method Of Transacting Business.

I Want The People Of America To Be Able To Work Less For The Government, And More For Themselves

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 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.

The Man Who Builds A Factory, Builds A Temple.

This Country Would Not Be A Land Of Opportunity, America Could Not Be America, If The People Were Shackled With Government Monopolies.

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

I Favor The Policy Of Economy, Not Because I Wish To Save Money, But Because I Wish To Save People. The Men And Women Of This Country Who Toil Are The Ones Who Bear The Cost Of The Government. Every Dollar That We Carelessly Waste Means That Their Life Will Be So Much The More Meager. Every Dollar That We Save Means That Their Life Will Be So Much The More Abundant. Economy Is Idealism In Its Most Practical Form.

To The American People: Christmas Is Not A Time Or A Season But A State Of Mind. To Cherish Peace And Good Will, To Be Plenteous In Mercy, Is To Have The Real Spirit Of Christmas. If We Think On These Things, There Will Be Born In Us A Savior And Over Us Will Shine A Star Sending Its Gleam Of Hope To The World." ~ Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), American President. Presidential Message (december 25, 1927).

What We Need Is Not More Federal Government, But Better Local Government.

Surprisingly Few Men Are Lacking In Capacity, But They Fail Because... They Are Too Indolent To Apply Themselves With The Seriousness And The Attention That Is Necessary To Solve Important Problems.

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

Nobody Will Ever Forget What I've Accomplished.

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

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

Despotism Has Forever Had A Powerful Hold Upon The World. Autocratic Government, Not Self-government, Has Been The Prevailing State Of Mankind. The Record Of Past History Is The Record, Not Of The Success Of Republics, But Of Their Failure.

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.

Do The Day's Work. If It Be To Protect The Rights Of The Weak, Whoever Objects, Do It. If It Be To Help A Powerful Corporation Better To Serve The People, Whatever The Opposition, Do That. Expect To Be Called A Stand-patter, But Don't Be A Stand-patter. Expect To Be Called A Demagogue, But Don't Be A Demagogue. Don't Hesitate To Be As Revolutionary As Science. Don't Hesitate To Be As Reactionary As The Multiplication Table. Don't Expect To Build Up The Weak By Pulling Down The Strong. Don't Hurry To Legislate. Give Administration A Chance To Catch Up With Legislation.

After All, The Chief Business Of The American People Is Business. They Are Profoundly Concerned With Producing, Buying, Selling, Investing And Prospering In The World.

You Can't Increase Prosperity By Taxing Success.

Eat It Up, Make It Do, Wear It Out.

We Are Too Solicitous For Government Intervention, On The Theory, First, That The People Themselves Are Helpless, And Second, That The Government Has Superior Capacity For Action. Often Times Both Of These Conclusions Are Wrong.

What Men Owe To The Love And Help Of Good Women Can Never Be Told.

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

Ultimately Property Rights And Personal Rights Are The Same Thing.

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.

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

Money Will Not Purchase Character Or Good Government.

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

Few People Are Lacking In Capacity, But They Fail Because They Are Lacking In Application.

July 4, 1776 Was The Historic Day On Which The Representatives Of Three Millions Of People Vocalized Concord, And Lexington, And Bunker Hill, Which Gave Notice To The World That They Proposed To Establish An Independent Nation On The Theory That All Men Are Created Equal, That They Are Endowed By Their Creator With Certain Inalienable Rights, That Among These Are Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Happiness.

Pursuit Of Happiness

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.

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.

Politics Is Not An End, But A Means. It Is Not A Product, But A Process. It Is The Art Of Government. Like Other Values It Has Its Counterfeits. So Much Emphasis Has Been Placed Upon The False That The Significance Of The True Has Been Obscured And Politics Has Come To Convey The Meaning Of Crafty And Cunning Selfishness, Instead Of Candid And Sincere Service.

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

Baseball Is Our National Game.

Nordics Deteriorate When Mixed With Other Races.

Industry Cannot Flourish If Labor Languish.

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?

No Nation Ever Had An Army Large Enough To Guarantee It Against Attack In Time Of Peace, Or Ensure It Of Victory In Time Of War.

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

I Have Noticed That Nothing I Never Said Ever Did Me Any Harm.

Advertising Ministers To The Spiritual Side Of Trade.

When A Great Many People Are Unable To Find Work, Unemployment Results.

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

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.

There Is No Escaping The Fact That When The Taxation Of Large Incomes Is Excessive, They Tend To Disappear.

No Matter What Anyone May Say About Making The Rich And The Corporations Pay The Taxes, In The End They Come Out Of The People Who Toil. It Is Your Fellow Workers Who Are Ordered To Work For The Government, Every Time An Appropriation Bill Is Passed. The People Pay The Expense Of Government, Often Many Times Over, In The Increased Cost Of Living. I Want Taxes To Be Less, That The People May Have More.

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

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.

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

A Government Which Lays Taxes On The People Not Required By Urgent Public Necessity And Sound Public Policy Is Not A Protector Of Liberty, But An Instrument Of Tyranny. It Condemns The Citizen To Servitude.

The Business Of America Is Business.

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.

Civilisation And Profits Go Hand In Hand.

It Seems To Me Probable That Of All Our Economic Life The Element On Which We Are Inclined To Place Too Low An Estimate Is Advertising.

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

We Need Not Concern Ourselves Much About Rights Of Property If We Faithfully Observe The Rights Of Persons.

It Is Not Easy To Conceive Of Anything That Would Be More Unfortunate In A Community Based Upon The Ideals Of Which Americans Boast Than Any Considerable Development Of Intolerance As Regards Religion.

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.

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

No Enterprise Can Exist For Itself Alone. It Ministers To Some Great Need, It Performs Some Great Service, Not For Itself, But For Others; Or Failing Therein, It Ceases To Be Profitable And Ceases To Exist.

I Love Vermont Because Of Her Hills And Valleys, Her Scenery And Invigorating Climate, But Most Of All Because Of Her Indomitable People. They Are A Race Of Pioneers Who Have Almost Beggared Themselves To Serve Others. If The Spirit Of Liberty Should Vanish In Other Parts Of The Union And Support Of Our Institutions Should Languish, It Could All Be Replenished From The Generous Store Held By The People Of This Brave Little State Of Vermont.

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

Look Well To The Hearthstone; Therein All Hope For America Lies.

I Did Not See The Sense In Chasing A Little White Ball Around A Field.

[the Political Mind] Is A Strange Mixture Of Vanity And Timidity, Of An Obsequious Attitude At One Time And A Delusion Of Grandeurat Another Time. The Political Mind Is The Product Of Men In Public Life Who Have Been Twice Spoiled. They Have Been Spoiled With Praise And They Have Been Spoiled With Abuse.

Governments Are Necessarily Continuing Concerns. They Have To Keep Going In Good Times And In Bad. They Therefore Need A Wide Margin Of Safety. If Taxes And Debt Are Made All The People Can Bear When Times Are Good, There Will Be Certain Disaster When Times Are Bad.

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

Human Nature Provides Sufficient Distrust Of All That Is Alien, So That There Is No Need Of Any Artificial Supply.

No One Ever Lost His Job By Listening Too Much.

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

The Things I Never Say Never Get Me Into Trouble.

Never Say Never

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.

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

No Matter What Anyone May Say About Making The Rich And The Corporations Pay Taxes, In The End They Come Out Of The People Who Toil

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

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

Civilization And Profit Go Hand In Hand.

[sun Yat-sen Is A] Combined Benjamin Franklin And George Washington Of China.

A Wholesome Regard For The Memory Of The Great Men Of Long Ago Is The Best Assurance To A People Of A Continuation Of Great Men To Come, Who Shall Be Able To Instruct, To Lead, And To Inspire. A People Who Worship At The Shrine Of True Greatness Will Themselves Be Truly Great.

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.

To Expect To Increase Prices And Then To Maintain Them At A Higher Level By Means Of A Plan Which Must Of Necessity Increase Production While Decreasing Consumption Is To Fly In The Face Of An Economic Law As Well Established As Any Law Of Nature.

There Is No Force So Democratic As The Force Of An Ideal.

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

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.

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

I Do Not Choose To Run For President In 1928.

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

Under Our Institutions Each Individual Is Born To Sovereignty. Whatever He May Adopt As A Means Of Livelihood, His Real Business Is Serving His Country. He Cannot Hold Himself Above His Fellow Men. The Greatest Place Of Command Is Really The Place Of Obedience, And The Greatest Place Of Honor Is Really The Place Of Service.

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

No Method Of Procedure Has Ever Been Devised By Which Liberty Could Be Divorced From Local Self-government. No Plan Of Centralization Has Ever Been Adopted Which Did Not Result In Bureaucracy, Tyranny, Inflexibility, Reaction, And Decline.

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

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

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.

Nothing In This World Can Take The Place Of Persistence. Talent Will Not: Nothing Is More Common Than Unsuccessful Men With Talent. Genius Will Not; Unrewarded Genius Is Almost A Proverb. Education Will Not: The World Is Full Of Educated Derelicts. Persistence And Determination Alone Are Omnipotent.

It Would Be Difficult To Conceive A Finer Example Of True Sport.

You Know, I Have Found In The Course Of A Long Public Life That The Things I Did Not Say Never Hurt Me.

It Is Characteristic Of The Unlearned That They Are Forever Proposing Something Which Is Old, And Because It Has Recently Come To Their Own Attention, Supposing It To Be New.

Life Is One Darn Thing After Another.

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.

Governments Do Not Make Ideals, But Ideals Make Governments.

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.

Whenever I Indulge My Sense Of Humor, It Gets Me Into Trouble.

If American Democracy Is To Remain The Greatest Hope Of Humanity, It Must Continue Abundantly In The Faith Of The Bible

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.

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.

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