Quotes from Calvin Coolidge

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.

That man has offered me unsolicited advice for six years, most of it bad.

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.

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.

Money will not purchase character or good 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.

Human nature provides sufficient distrust of all that is alien, so that there is no need of any artificial supply.

We want wealth, but there are many other things we want very much more. Among them are peace, honor, charity, and idealism.

Never go out to meet trouble. If you just sit still, nine cases out of ten, someone will intercept it before it reaches you.

Ultimately property rights and personal rights are the same thing.

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

The higher state to which [America] seeks the allegiance of all mankind is not of human, but of divine origin. She cherishes no purpose save to merit the favor of Almighty God.

America... Cherishes no purpose save to merit the favor of Almighty God.

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.

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

Governments do not make ideals, but ideals make governments.

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

What we need is not more Federal government, but better local government.

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.

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.

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

The country is not in good condition.

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

In a republic the first rule for the guidance of the citizen is obedience of the law.