Background Image

...

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.

-Calvin Coolidge

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

Under Our Institutions The

Calvin Coolidge

...

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.

Views: 91352

Topic

More From Calvin Coolidge

Advertising Ministers To The Spiritual Side Of Trade.

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 Final Solution For Unemployment Is Work.

There Is No Substitute For A Militant Freedom.

Civilization And Profit Go Hand In Hand.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

No Man Ever Listened Himself Out Of A Job.

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.

The Foundations Of Our Society And Our Government Rest So Much On The Teachings Of The Bible That It Would Be Difficult To Support Them If Faith In These Teachings Would Cease To Be Practically Universal In Our Country.

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

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.

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.

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.

Nordics Deteriorate When Mixed With Other Races.

[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.

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

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.

One With The Law Is A Majority.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

Prosperity Cannot Be Divorced From Humanity.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Libertarian Party

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

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

Ultimately Property Rights And Personal Rights Are The Same Thing.

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

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.

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

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

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

Work Is Not A Curse; It Is The Prerogative Of Intelligence, The Only Means To Manhood, And The Measure Of Civilization.

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

Industry Cannot Flourish If Labor Languish.

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.

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

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.

It Would Be Folly To Argue That The People Cannot Make Political Mistakes. They Can And Do Make Grave Mistakes. They Know It, They Pay The Penalty, But Compared With The Mistakes Which Have Been Made By Every Kind Of Autocracy They Are Unimportant.

The Two Great Political Parties Of The Nation Have Existed For The Purpose, Each In Accordance With Its Own Principles, Of Undertaking To Serve The Interests Of The Whole Nation. Their Members Of The Congress Are Chosen With That Great End In View.

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

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

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

No One Ever Lost His Job By Listening Too Much.

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.

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.

Nothing Is More Common Than Unsuccessful People With Talent.

Procrastination

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

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.

The Most Common Commodity In This Country Is Unrealized Potential.

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

General Welfare

It Is Difficult For Men In High Office To Avoid The Malady Of Self-delusion. They Are Always Surrounded By Worshipers. They Are Constantly, And For The Most Part Sincerely, Assured Of Their Greatness.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

The Chief Business Of America Is Business.

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.

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.

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 Only Hope Of A Short War Is To Prepare For A Long One.

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

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

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?

The Country Is Not In Good Condition.

Great Depression

The Nation Which Forgets Its Defenders Will Be Itself Forgotten.

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.

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

Collecting More Taxes Than Is Absolutely Necessary Is Legalized Robbery.

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.

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.

If The People Lose Control Of The Arteries Of Trade And The Natural Sources Of Mechanical Power, The Nationalization Of All Industry Should Soon Be Expected. Our Forefathers Were Alert To Resist All Encroachments Upon Their Rights. If We Wish To Maintain Our Rights, We Can Do No Less.

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.

The Chief Business Of The American People Is Business.

Liberty Is Not Collective, It Is Personal. All Liberty Is Individual Liberty.

Theodore Roosevelt Was Always Getting Himself In Hot Water By Talking Before He Had To Commit Himself Upon Issues Not Well-defined.

[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.

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.

You Can't Increase Prosperity By Taxing Success.

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.

It Is Not The Enactment, But The Observance Of Laws, That Creates The Character Of A Nation.

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

Life Is One Darn Thing After Another.

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.

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.

Don't Expect To Build Up The Weak By Pulling Down The Strong.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

I Do Not Choose To Run For President In 1928.

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

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.

It Takes A Great Man To Be A Good Listener.

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.

That Man Has Offered Me Unsolicited Advice For Six Years, Most Of It Bad.

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.

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

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

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

The Things I Never Say Never Get Me Into Trouble.

Never Say Never

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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

Realizing That We Can Not Live Unto Ourselves Alone, We Have Contributed Of Our Resources And Our Counsel To The Relief Of The Suffering And The Settlement Of The Disputes Among The European Nations. Because Of What America Is And What America Has Done, A Firmer Courage, A Higher Hope, Inspires The Heart Of All Humanity.

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

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.'

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

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

The Government Of A Country Never Gets Ahead Of The Religion Of A Country. There Is No Way By Which We Can Substitute The Authority Of The Law For The Virtues Of Men.

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

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.

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.

We Demand Entire Freedom Of Action And Then Expect The Government In Some Miraculous Way To Save Us From The Consequences Of Our Own Acts.... Self-government Means Self-reliance.

Anytime You Don't Want Anything You Get It.

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

Civilisation And Profits Go Hand In Hand.

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.

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

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."

A Display Of Reason Rather Than A Threat Of Force Should Be The Determining Factor In The Intercourse Among Nations.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

I Have Done It [appointed Commissions] Regretfully And With The Hope That It Would Be Temporary. But After A Commission Is Established You Find It Always Wants To Enlarge Itself, Employ More People, Is Very Busy With Senators And Congressmen To Impress Upon Them The Great Value Of The Services Of The Commission, And Even When I Talk To People That I Appoint To Commissions And Tell Them I Would Like Them To Go On To Various Boards With The Idea That They May Be Abolished, They Say They Ought To Be Abolished, But When They Have Taken Their Position They Very Soon Seem To Change Their Mind.

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.

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.

[may] This Civic And Social Landmark [the Washington, D.c., Jewish Community Center] ... Be A Constant Reminder Of The Inspiring Service That Has Been Rendered To Civilization By Men And Women Of The Jewish Faith. May [visitors] Recall The Long Array Of Those Who Have Been Eminent In Statecraft, In Science, In Literature, In Art, In The Professions, In Business, In Finance, In Philanthropy And In The Spiritual Life Of The World.

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

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.

As I Went About With My Father, When He Collected Taxes, I Knew That When Taxes Were Laid Someone Had To Work Hard To Earn The Money To Pay Them.

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.

No Enterprise Can Exist For Itself Alone.

Profitable Business

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.

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

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

Motivational Sports

I Always Enjoy Animal Acts.

American Ideals Do Not Require To Be Changed So Much As They Require To Be Understood And Applied.

Our Government Rests Upon Religion. It Is From That Source That We Derive Our Reverance For Truth And Justice, For Equality And Liberty, And For The Rights Of Mankind. Unless The People Believe In These Principles They Cannot Believe In Our Government.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Persistence And Determination Alone Are Omnipotent.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

The Business Of America Is Business.

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.

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

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

Self-government Means Self Support.

The World Is Full Of Educated Derelicts.

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.

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.

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.

Character Is The Only Secure Foundation Of The State.

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.

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

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.

Trending Author

Category