The wisdom of Calvin Coolidge

By Correctamundo


By far, one of the many overlooked presidents, John Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President of the United States. He's also the only president born on Independence Day.  

Coolidge restored public confidence in the White House after the scandals of his predecessor's administration, and left office with considerable popularity. As a Coolidge biographer put it, "He embodied the spirit and hopes of the middle class, could interpret their longings and express their opinions. That he did represent the genius of the average is the most convincing proof of his strength." Some later criticized Coolidge as part of a general criticism of laissez-faire government. His reputation underwent a renaissance during the Ronald Reagan Administration, but the ultimate assessment of his presidency is still divided between those who approve of his reduction of the size of government programs and those who believe the federal government should be more involved in regulating and controlling the economy.

Unlike our current president, he waited to write his autobiography AFTER his presidential term...and he only wrote one about himself.  

So I thought it would be uplifting to read some inspiring quotes from 'Silent Cal', who was anything but.  

As President, Coolidge's reputation as a quiet man continued. "The words of a President have an enormous weight," he would later write, "and ought not to be used indiscriminately." Coolidge was aware of his stiff reputation; indeed, he cultivated it. "I think the American people want a solemn ass as a President," he once told Ethel Barrymore, "and I think I will go along with them." However, he did hold a then-record number of presidential press conferences, 520 during his presidency. Some historians would later suggest that Coolidge's image was created deliberately as a campaign tactic, while others believe his withdrawn and quiet behavior to be natural, deepening after the death of his son in 1924.

Quite a difference from what we have now.

Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

It takes a great man to be a good listener.

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

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.

Civilization and profit go hand in hand.

Ultimately property rights and personal rights are the same thing.

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

No man ever listened himself out of a job.