Calvin Coolidge, America’s 30th President (1923-1929), was renowned for his determination to uphold moral and economic frugality during the prosperous 1920s.
Taking his oath of office by a kerosene lamp, Coolidge sought to restore dignity and prestige to the Presidency amidst a period of extravagance and waste.
Born in Vermont on July 4, 1872 and later graduated from Amherst College, he methodically climbed the political ranks to become Massachusetts’ Governor before Presidency.
As President, Coolidge’s first message to Congress emphasized isolation in foreign policy, tax cuts, economic thrift and limited aid to farmers.
Winning over 54% of the popular vote in 1924, his tenure was associated with ‘Coolidge prosperity.’ Walter Lippmann, in 1926, noted Coolidge’s genius lay in his effective inactivity, which suited the country’s mood and needs.
Related: John Quincy Adams Quotes from American President and Abraham Lincoln Quotes on Life and Leadership
His dry wit and frugality with words became legendary. Coolidge’s most famous statement, “I do not choose to run for President in 1928,” marked the end of his political career.
He passed away in 1933, believing he no longer fit the times.
Best Calvin Coolidge Quotes
Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
What men owe to the love and help of good women can never be told. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
I have noticed that nothing I have never said ever did me any harm. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is individual liberty. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
The world is full of educated derelicts. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Silence can never be misquoted. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
One of the first lessons a president has to learn is that every word he says weighs a ton. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
In life there is nothing more common than talent and intelligence. What is missing is passion, persistence, commitment, and dedication. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Never go out to meet trouble. If you just sit still, nine cases out of ten, someone will intercept it before it reaches you. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
I always figured the American public wanted a solemn ass for president, so I went along with them. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important, as living within your means. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Four-fifths of all our troubles would disappear, if we would only sit down and keep still. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
The best help that benevolence and philanthropy can give is that which induces everybody to help himself. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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? ~ Calvin Coolidge.
The strength of a country is the strength of its religious convictions. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
I want the people of America to be able to work less for the government, and more for themselves. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
There is no surer road to destruction than prosperity without character. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
The only way I know to drive out evil from the country is by the constructive method of filling it with good. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Popular Calvin Coolidge Quotes
It has been my observation in life that, if one will only exercise the patience to wait, his wants are likely to be filled. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
I did not see the sense in chasing a little white ball around a field. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Why don’t we just buy one airplane and let the pilots take turns flying it. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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.
Civilization and profits go hand in hand. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
The only difference between a mob and a trained army is organization. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
You can’t know too much, but you can say too much. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
No man ever listened himself out of a job. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
The final solution for unemployment is work. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
I guess I am not naturally energetic. I like to sit around and talk. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Top Calvin Coolidge Quotes
Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
A government which lays taxes on the people not required by urgent public necessity and sound public policy is not a protector of liberty, but an instrument of tyranny. It condemns the citizen to servitude. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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.
Self-government means self support. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Nature is inexorable. If men do not follow the truth they cannot live. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Ultimately property rights and personal rights are the same thing. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
I have never been hurt by what I have not said. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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.
There is far more danger of harm than there is hope of good in any radical changes. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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.
If we judge ourselves only by our aspirations and everyone else only their conduct we shall soon reach a very false conclusion. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Famous Calvin Coolidge Quotes
What we need in appointive positions is men of knowledge and experience who have sufficient character to resist temptations. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Human nature provides sufficient distrust of all that is alien, so that there is no need of any artificial supply. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
The most common commodity in this country is unrealized potential. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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.
Changing a college curriculum is like moving a graveyard-you never know how many friends the dead have until you try to move them! ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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.
All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
This country would not be a land of opportunity, America could not be America, if the people were shackled with government monopolies. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Whenever I indulge my sense of humor, it gets me into trouble. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Industry cannot flourish if labor languish. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
The words of the President have an enormous weight and ought not to be used indiscriminately. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Character is the only secure foundation of the state. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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 amount of hard work that is put into it. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshiped. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Everyone has an influence on public affairs if he will take the trouble to exert it. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
You can’t increase prosperity by taxing success. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Doubters do not achieve; skeptics do not contribute; cynics do not create. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Patriotism is easy to understand in America; it means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Ultimate Calvin Coolidge Quotes
Money will not purchase character or good government. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Your ability to face setbacks and disappointments without giving up will be the measure of your ability to succeed. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
All growth depends upon activity. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Any man who does not like dogs and want them about does not deserve to be in the White House. ~ 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. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
School is not the end but only the beginning of an education. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
American ideals do not require to be changed so much as they require to be understood and applied. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Men do not make laws. They do but discover them. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
It takes a great man to be a good listener. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
It is only when men begin to worship that they begin to grow. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Freedom is not only bought with a great price; it is maintained by unremitting effort. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
I am for economy. After that I am for more economy. At this time and under present conditions that is my conception of serving all the people. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Wealth comes from industry and from the hard experience of human toil. To dissipate it in waste and extravagance is disloyalty to humanity. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Great Calvin Coolidge Quotes
The fundamental precept of liberty is toleration. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Education should be the handmaid of citizenship. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Don’t hesitate to be as revolutionary as science. Don’t hesitate to be as reactionary as the multiplication table. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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.
Work is not a curse; it is the prerogative of intelligence, the only means to manhood, and the measure of civilization. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Inspirational Calvin Coolidge Quotes
As I went about with my father, when he collected taxes, I knew that when taxes were laid someone had to work hard to earn the money to pay them. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
There is no right to strike against the public safety by anybody, anywhere, any time. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
No one ever lost his job by listening too much. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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.
When people are bewildered they tend to become credulous. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
History reveals no civilized people among whom there was not a highly educated class and large aggregations of wealth. Large profits mean large payrolls. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
Wise Calvin Coolidge Quotes
The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
If you don’t say anything, you won’t be called on to repeat it. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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.
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
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.
The business of America is business. ~ Calvin Coolidge.
So these were the 101 top Calvin Coolidge quotes on persistence, government and taxes.
If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on Will Rogers quotes and Betty White quotes.
