Happy Birthday, Cal!
Almost all Americans know that tomorrow marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Even for those who don’t, tomorrow’s festivities probably will be a tip off. However, a small minority of Americans also know that it marks the birthday of one of our greatest presidents – Calvin Coolidge (the best president of the 20th century, in my opinion).
So, in celebration of Silent Cal, I thought it would be fitting to provide some of my favorite Calvin Coolidge quotes for everyone. Take them as a source of inspiration or icebreakers for your July 4th party – and everything in between.
Self-Government: “Government cannot relieve from toil. The normal must take care of themselves. Self-government means self-support.... Ultimately property rights and personal rights are the same thing.... History reveals no civilized people among whom there was not a highly educated class and large aggregations of wealth. Large profits mean large payrolls."
Economy: "The chief business of the American people is business.”
Morality: “We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power. We do not need more knowledge, we need more character. We do not need more government, we need more culture. We do not need more law, we need more religion. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen. If the foundation be firm, the foundation will stand.”
Business: “The man who builds a factory builds a temple, that the man who works there worships there, and to each is due, not scorn and blame, but reverence and praise.”
Problem-Solving: “Four-fifths of all our troubles would disappear, if we would only sit down and keep still.”
Faith: "The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country."
The Constitution: “To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.”
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Comments:
May '10
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
And a very happy July 4th to you all (it is already 23 minutes past Sunday here)!
Apr '11
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
Thanks for reminding us that Coolidge was our only president born on the 4th of July. I wonder if he is a real live nephew of his uncle Sam?
My favorite Coolidge quote:
Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business. ~ Calvin Coolidge
May '10
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
Oh thank you, Harry! Now I know how to celebrate tomorrow. We'll load our boys in the car and head for Plymouth Notch.
Apr '11
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
Coolidge on:
Progressives - It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning cannot be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.
~ Calvin Coolidge, July 5th, 1926 (Speech on the Occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence)
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
Final? Good heavens, I thought we were past this sort of absolutism in our political discourse. As our most enlightened orator of the day would tell us: "There are those who say the ideas are final. There are those who say the ideas are completely open to debate. I reject those false choices, and believe we must work together to come together on the ideas that are kinda-sorta final."
Jul '10
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
Jul '11
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
Coolidge on persistence:
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."
Jun '10
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
My favorite Coolidge story may not be true. If it's not, it should be. Coolidge went to church. Upon returning home, someone asked about the subject of sermon. Cal's response: "Sin." Next question: "What did he say about it." Cal: "He was against it." End of conversation.
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
Coolidge to Hoover upon the grind of the presidency:
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
Coolidge upon being told this story: “It would be better if it were true.” (Robert Sobel, Coolidge: An American Enigma, 238.) His biographer cites it a typical instance of the light, dry wit Coolidge habitually deployed. Will Rodgers, who got him, said:
(Ibid.)
Take that, Miss Parker.
May '10
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
My gosh, this is great stuff. The last chief executive to know the scope of the office, maybe? Happy birthday, Mr. Coolidge, and happy Fourth of July to all else.
Mar '11
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
A fitting birthday for Coolidge, one of the last great defenders of the original constitutional order.
Jul '11
Re: Happy Birthday, Cal!
Wonderful - I'm off to search Amazon for a Cal quote book.