Calvin Coolidge famous quotes

Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Strength #Peace #Strong

The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Military #Army #Navy

Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is individual liberty.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Liberty #Individual #Collectives

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Life #Leadership #Motivational Sports

I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government, and more for themselves
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Government #America #People

Four-fifths of all our troubles would disappear, if we would only sit down and keep still.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Political #Four #Politics

There is no force so democratic as the force of an ideal.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Patriotic #Force #Idealism

To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Patriotic #Race #Political

It takes a great man to be a good listener.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Life #Relationship #Wisdom

It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Government #Important #Liberty

Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Presidential #Liberty #Taxation

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Home #Rights #Patriotism

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Christmas #Real #Mind

We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Time #Ambition #Effort

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

#Country #Opportunity #Government

Nothing is easier than spending public money. It does not appear to belong to anybody. The temptation is overwhelming to bestow it on somebody.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Money #Carpe Diem #Temptation

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Country #Teaching #4th Of July

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Real #Years #Important

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Spiritual #Business #Responsibility

I sometimes wish that people would put a little more emphasis upon the observance of the law than they do upon its enforcement.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Inspiration #Law #People

No man ever listened himself out of a job.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Jobs #Men #Listening

You know, I have found out in the course of a long public life that the things I did not say never hurt me.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Life #Hurt #Long

The business of America is business.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Business #Military #America

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Men #Temples #Blame

Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Trust #Risk #Chance

Ultimately property rights and personal rights are the same thing.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Rights #Politics #Conservative

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Nature #Eye #Healing

Advertising is the life of trade.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Business #Advertising #Trade

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Peace #War #Army

One with the law is a majority.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Law #Majority

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Persistence #Men #World

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Congratulations #Failure #Progress

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Mistake #People #Political

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Motivational #Wisdom #Loss

Because of what America is and what America has done, a firmer courage, a higher hope, inspires the heart of all humanity.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#4th Of July #Heart #America

Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Memorial Day #Patriotic #Men

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Business #Educational #Needs

Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Patriotic #Deities #Wealth

Mass demand has been created almost entirely through the development of advertising.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Development #Demand #Advertising

I have noticed that nothing I never said ever did me any harm.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#History #Silence #Harm

I have never been hurt by what I have not said.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Funny #Witty #Hurt

Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Hope #Lying #Angel

There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no one independence quite so important, as living within your means.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Money #Freedom #Mean

Wherever we look, the work of the chemist has raised the level of our civilization and has increased the productive capacity of the nation.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Civilization #Looks #Levels

It is only when men begin to worship that they begin to grow.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Religious #Men #Worship

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Men #Oil #Office

When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment results.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Work #People #Unemployment

Duty is not collective; it is personal.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Duty #Collectives

Any man who does not like dogs and want them about does not deserve to be in the White House.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Dog #Men #White

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Inspirational #Determination #Persistence

All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Work #Mean #Effort

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Inspirational #Motivational #Strength

The right thing to do never requires any subterfuge, it is always simple and direct.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Simple #Accountability #Political

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Simple #United States #Care

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#People #Giving #Effort

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Men #Rights #Progress

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."
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Taken #Men #One Day

If American democracy is to remain the greatest hope of humanity, it must continue abundantly in the faith of the Bible
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Presidential #Humanity #Democracy

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Mean #Government #Self

The only difference between a mob and a trained army is organization.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Army #Organization #Differences

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Country #Mean #Men

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Government #Civilization #America

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Government #Liberty #Rewards

The words of the President have an enormous weight and ought not to be used indiscriminately.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#President #Weight #Used

Wherever despotism abounds, the sources of public information are the first to be brought under its control.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Information #Firsts #Source

After order and liberty, economy is one of the highest essentials of a free government.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Government #Order #Liberty

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Doubt #Republic #Rewards

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Government #People #Firsts

Character is the only secure foundation of the state.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Character #Foundation #States

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Science #Forever #Attention

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,
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Powerful #Together #Benefits

Governments do not make ideals, but ideals make governments.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Government

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Believe #Rights #Government

The chief business of the American people is business.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Business #People #Chiefs

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Atheist #Men #Important

There is no justification for public interference with purely private concerns.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Justification #Concern #Interference

If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Happiness #Running #Positive Thinking

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

#Country #Evil #Way

The business of the country is business.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Country #Business

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

#Inspirational #Judging #Criticism

Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Accomplishment #Presidential #Political

The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Inspirational #Determination #Race

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Freedom #Independent #Destiny

Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Country #4th Of July #Mean

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Spiritual #Intellectual #Vision

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Government #People #Citizens

I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#People #Wish #Favors

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Race #People #Brave

The most common commodity in this country is unrealized potential.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Country #Vision #Common

There is no surer road to destruction than prosperity without character.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Character #Prosperity #Destruction

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Peace #Lying #Opportunity

A display of reason rather than a threat of force should be the determining factor in the intercourse among nations.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Reason #Should #Force

Freedom is not only bought with a great price; it is maintained by unremitting effort.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Effort

Unless we lay our course in accordance with this principle, the great power for good in the world with which we have been intrusted by a Divine Providence will be turned to a power for evil.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Evil #Principles #World

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.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Country #Men #Safety

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...
-- Calvin Coolidge

#People #Evil #Progress

The presidency does not yield to definition. Like the glory of a morning sunrise, it can be experienced.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Morning #Yield #Sunrise

Doubters do not achieve; skeptics do not contribute; cynics do not create.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Achievement #Doubters #Achieve

I always figured the American public wanted a solemn ***** for president, so I went along with them.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#President #Ass #Explanation

If we expect others to rely on our fairness and justice we must show that we rely on their fairness and justice.
-- Calvin Coolidge

#Justice #Fairness #Shows