Quotes from James A. Garfield

Things don't turn up in this world until somebody turns them up.

I am trying to do two things: dare to be a radical and not a fool, which is a matter of no small difficulty.

Battles are never the end of war; for the dead must be buried and the cost of the conflict must be paid.

Poverty is uncomfortable; but nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and compelled to sink or swim.

A brave man is a man who dares to look the Devil in the face and tell him he is a Devil.

Few men in our history have ever obtained the Presidency by planning to obtain it.

The men who succeed best in public life are those who take the risk of standing by their own convictions.

In the minds of most men, the kingdom of opinion is divided into three territories,--the territory of yes, the territory of no, and a broad, unexplored middle ground of doubt.

I love to deal with doctrines and events. The contests of men about men I greatly dislike.

There can be no permanent disfranchised peasantry in the United States.

The civil service can never be placed on a satisfactory basis until it is regulated by law.

If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it's the best possible substitute for it.

The worst days of darkness through which I have ever passed have been greatly alleviated by throwing myself with all my energy into some work relating to others.

Man cannot live by bread alone he must have peanut butter.

Right reason is stronger than force.

The ideal college is Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other.

I mean to make myself a man, and if I succeed in that, I shall succeed in everything else.

I am receiving what I suppose to be the usual number of threatening letters on the subject. Assassination can be no more guarded against than death by lightning; it is best not to worry about either.

For love of country they accepted death.

He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation.

Fellow citizens! God reigns, and the Government at Washington still lives!

Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.

Few men in our history have ever obtained the Presidency by planning to obtain it.

If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it's the best possible substitute for it.