Herbert Hoover was the 31st President of the United States who served from 1929-1933 during an important phase of the Great Depression.
Prior to his presidency, Hoover achieved recognition as a mining engineer and was globally celebrated as “The Great Humanitarian” for his role in feeding war-ravaged Europe during and after World War I.
Born to a Quaker blacksmith in Iowa in 1874, Hoover pursued mining engineering at Stanford University and later worked as China’s leading engineer.
During World War I, he was tasked with assisting stranded American tourists in Europe and later headed the U.S. Food Administration under President Wilson.
He effectively managed food supplies for the Allies and subsequently led efforts to provide food aid to famine-stricken regions.
As President, he tried to combat the Great Depression by maintaining a balanced budget, reducing taxes and increasing public works spending.
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Despite his best efforts, Hoover was widely criticized and became the scapegoat for the Depression.
After his presidency, he remained active in public service and authored numerous books and articles.
Here are some of the most famous quotes by Herbert Hoover for you.
Best Herbert Hoover Quotes
The only problem with capitalism is the capitalists. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Prosperity cannot be restored by raids upon the public Treasury. ~ Herbert Hoover.
We do not need to burn down the house to kill the rats. ~ Herbert Hoover.
To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort, and hope. ~ Herbert Hoover.
It is just as important that business keep out of government as that government keep out of business. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Hunger is the mother of anarchy. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Engineering without imagination sinks to a trade. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Governments know that the life of the world cannot be saved if the soul of the world is allowed to be lost. ~ Herbert Hoover.
A good old fashion Stimulus Program ought to turn around this little recession. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Every collectivist revolution rides in on a Trojan horse of EMERGENCY. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The durability of free speech and free press rests on the simple concept that it search for the truth and tell the truth. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Fishing is a constant reminder of the democracy of life, of humility, and of human frailty. The forces of nature discriminate for no man. ~ Herbert Hoover.
All men are equal before fish. ~ Herbert Hoover.
All progress and growth is a matter of change, but change must be growth within our social and government concepts if it should not destroy them. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Wisdom consists not so much in knowing what to do in the ultimate as in knowing what to do next. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Famous Herbert Hoover Quotes
A good many things go around in the dark besides Santa Claus. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The course of unbalanced budgets is the road to ruin. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Love what is ahead by loving what has come before. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Many women are now holding posts of grave responsibility in city and country and state and nation, and their number must be greatly increased. ~ Herbert Hoover.
We are now speeding down the road of wasteful spending and debt, and unless we can escape we will be smashed in inflation. ~ Herbert Hoover.
In the great mass of our people there are plenty individuals of intelligence from among whom leadership can be recruited. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Freedom requires that government keep the channels of competition and opportunity open, prevent monopolies, economic abuse and domination. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Children add to the wonder of being alive. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Children are the most wholesome part of the race, the sweetest, for they are the freshest from the hand of god. ~ Herbert Hoover.
When we are sick, we want an uncommon doctor; when we have a construction job to do, we want an uncommon engineer, and when we are at war, we want an uncommon general. It is only when we get into politics that we are satisfied with the common man. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The sole function of Government is to bring about a condition of affairs favorable to the beneficial development of private enterprise. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Powerful Herbert Hoover Quotes
Honest difference of views and honest debate are not disunity. They are the vital process of policy among free men. ~ Herbert Hoover.
We have learned that social injustice is the destruction of justice itself. ~ Herbert Hoover.
A splendid storehouse of integrity and freedom has been bequeathed to us by our forefathers. In this day of confusion, of peril to liberty, our high duty is to see that this storehouse is not robbed of its contents. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The spark of liberty in the mind and spirit of man cannot be long extinguished; it will break into flames that will destroy every coercion which seems to limit it. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Honor is not the exclusive property of any political party. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Being a politician is a poor profession. Being a public servant is a noble one. ~ Herbert Hoover.
When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The whole inspiration of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ and the lessons of the prophets. To read the Bible for these fundamentals is a necessity of American life. ~ Herbert Hoover.
It is those moral and spiritual qualities which rise alone in free men, which will fulfill the meaning of the word American. And with them will come centuries of further greatness to our country. ~ Herbert Hoover.
While the crash only took place six months ago, I am convinced we have passed the worst and with continued unity of effort we shall rapidly recover. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Let me remind you that credit is the lifeblood of business, the lifeblood of prices and jobs. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Wise Herbert Hoover Quotes
The people have a vital interest in the conservation of their natural resources; in the prevention of wasteful practices. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The advancement of knowledge must be translated into increasing health and education for the children. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Our individualism is rooted in our very nature. It is based on conviction born of experience. Equal opportunity, the demand for a fair chance, became the formula of American Individualism because it is the method of American achievement. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Bureaucracy is ever desirous of spreading its influence and its power. You cannot extend the mastery of the government over the daily working life of a people without at the same time making it the master of the people’s souls and thoughts. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Liberalism is a force truly of the spirit proceeding from the deep realization that economic freedom cannot be sacrificed if political freedom is to be preserved. ~ Herbert Hoover.
When the outcome of a meeting is to have another meeting, it has been a lousy meeting. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Truth alone can stand the guns of criticism. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body – the producers and consumers themselves. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Gentleman, you have come sixty days too late. The depression is over. ~ Herbert Hoover.
If we could have but one generation of properly born, trained, educated, and healthy children, a thousand other problems of government would vanish. ~ Herbert Hoover.
We are in danger of developing a cult of the Common Man, which means a cult of mediocrity. ~ Herbert Hoover.
New discoveries in science will continue to create a thousand new frontiers for those who still would adventure. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Great Herbert Hoover Quotes
We have gold because we cannot trust governments. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The only trouble with capitalism is capitalists; they’re too damned greedy. ~ Herbert Hoover.
My country owes me nothing. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Engineering is a great profession. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Along with currency manipulation, the New Deal introduced to Americans the spectacle of Fascist dictation to business, labor, and agriculture. ~ Herbert Hoover.
It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The supreme purpose of history is a better world. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The slogan of progress is changing from the full dinner pail to the full garage. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed! ~ Herbert Hoover.
Prosperity is just around the corner. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Absolute freedom of the press to discuss public questions is a foundation stone of American liberty. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Top Herbert Hoover Quotes
There is no other book so various as the Bible, nor one so full of concentrated wisdom. ~ Herbert Hoover.
No public man can be just a little crooked. There is no such thing as a no-man’s land between honesty and dishonesty. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The sixth grade made my life successful by preparing me for the seventh and the seventh by preparing me for the eighth and so on. May it do the same for you. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Next to prayer, Fishing is the most personal relationship of man. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The Constitution is America’s glue, Democracy is the Constitution’s glue. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The basis of successful relief in national distress is to mobilize and organize the infinite number of agencies of self help in the community. That has been the American way. ~ Herbert Hoover.
It is obvious that while science is struggling to bring Heaven to earth some men are using its materials in the construction of Hell. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Free speech does not live many hours after free industry and free commerce die. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress. ~ Herbert Hoover.
A boy has two jobs. One is just being a boy. The other is growing up to be a man. ~ Herbert Hoover.
It was the transcendent fortitude and steadfastness of these men who in adversity and in suffering through the darkest hour of our history held faithful to an ideal. Here men endured that a nation might live. ~ Herbert Hoover.
About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody moves the ends. ~ Herbert Hoover.
There are only three ways to meet the unpaid bills of a nation. The first is taxation. The second is repudiation. The third is inflation. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Fishing is the chance to wash one’s soul with pure air. It brings meekness and inspiration, reduces our egoism, soothes our troubles and shames our wickedness. It is discipline in the equality of men – for all men are equal before fish. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Popular Herbert Hoover Quotes
The worst evil of disregard for some law is that it destroys respect for all laws. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The President is not only the leader of a party, he is the President of the whole people. He must interpret the conscience of America. He must guide his conduct by the idealism of our people. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The imperative need of this nation at all times is the leadership of Uncommon Men or Women. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The rigid volunteer rules of right and wrong in sports are second only to religious faith in moral training. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul. ~ Herbert Hoover.
National character cannot be built by law. It is the sum of the moral fiber of its individuals. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Engineering training deals with the exact sciences. That sort of exactness makes for truth and conscience. It might be good for the world if more men had that sort of mental start in life even if they did not pursue the profession. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Never worry about anything that is past. Charge it up to experience and forget the trouble. There are always plenty of troubles ahead, so don’t turn and look back on any behind you. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Economic depression can not be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement. ~ Herbert Hoover.
No great question will ever be settled in dollars and cents. Great questions must be settled on moral grounds and the tests of what makes free men. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Fishing is more than fish; it is the vitalizing lure to outdoor life. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Sportsmanship, next to the Church, is the greatest teacher of morals. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Once upon a time my opponents honored me as possessing the fabulous intellectual and economic power by which I created a worldwide depression all by myself. ~ Herbert Hoover.
The outlook of the world today is for the greatest era of commercial expansion in history. The rest of the world will become better customers. ~ Herbert Hoover.
Children are our most valuable natural resource. ~ Herbert Hoover.
So these were the 102 top Herbert Hoover quotes and sayings.
If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on Henny Youngman quotes and Henry Rollins quotes.
