Calvin Coolidge

“Well, they’re going to elect that Superman Hoover, and he’s going to have some trouble. He’s going to have to spend money, but it won’t be enough. Then the Democrats will come in. But they don’t know anything about money.[To his Secret Service man, Edmund Starling]”

“If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it.”

“All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.”

“Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.”

“The Business of Our Firm is Business"-Donald W. Hudspeth from:"The Business of America is Business"-Calvin Coolidge”

“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.”

“...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. I am strongly of the opinion that the great majority of people will always find these are the moving impulses of our life. But it is only those who do not understand our people, who believe that our national life is entirely absorbed by material motives. We make no concealment of the fact that we want wealth, but there are many other things that we want much more. We want peace and honor, and that charity which is so strong an element of all civilization. The chief ideal of the American people is idealism.”

“Civilization and profits go hand in hand”

“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.”

“Wealth comes from industry and from the hard experience of human toil. To dissipate it in waste and extravagance is disloyalty to humanity.”

“The only way I know to drive out evil from the country is by the constructive method of filling it with good.”

“When a man begins to feel that he is the only one whou can lead in this republic, he is guilty of treason to the spirit of our institutions.”

“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 amout of hard work that is put into it.”

“If we judge ourselves only by our aspirations and everyone else only their conduct we shall soon reach a very false conclusion.”

“Economy is idealism in its most practical form.”

“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 business of America is business. ”

“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.”

“This country would not be a land of opportunity, America could not be America, if the people were shackled with government monopolies.”

“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 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.”

“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.”

“Patriotism is easy to understand in America; it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.”

“No person was ever honored for what he recieved. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.”

“It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.”

“Don't you know that four fifths of all our troubles in this life would disappear if we would just sit down and keep still?”

“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.”

“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. Presidential message, December 25, 1927”

“Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.”

“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people.”

“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.”

“Our government rests upon religion. It is from that source that we derive our reverence for truth and justice, for equality and liberality, and for the rights of mankind. Unless the people believe in these principles they cannot believe in our government. There are only two main theories of government in our world. One rests on righteousness and the other on force. One appeals to reason, and the other appeals to the sword. One is exemplified in the republic, the other is represented by despotism.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 law for the virtue of man. Of course we endeavor to restrain the vicious, and furnish a fair degree of security and protection by legislation and police control, but the real reform which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, humanity, charity—these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of divine grace.”

“The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.”

“I have noticed that nothing I have never said ever did me any harm.”

“We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.”

“It takes a great man to be a good listener.”

“There is no dignityquite so impressive,and no independencequite so important,as living within your means.”

“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. The slogan 'Press On!' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”