Herbert hoover quotes

Prosperity is just around the corner.

One who brandishes a pistol must be prepared to shoot.

There is no other book so various as the Bible, nor one so full of concentrated wisdom.

A boy has two jobs. One is just being a boy. The other is growing up to be a man.

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.

True American Liberalism utterly denies the whole creed of socialism.

American life is builded ... upon that fundamental philosophy announced by the Savior nineteen centuries ago ... [It] can not survive with the defense of Cain, "Am I my brother's keeper?

Truth alone can stand the guns of criticism.

Let us not forget that the value of this great system does not lie primarily in its extent or even in its efficiency. Its worth depends on the use that is made of it... For the first time in human history we have available to us the ability to communicate simultaneously with millions of our fellowmen, to furnish entertainment, instruction, widening vision of national problems and national events. An obligation rests on us to see that it is devoted to real service and to develop the material that is transmitted into that which is really worthwhile.

It is just as important that business keep out of government as that government keep out of business.

The Constitution is America's glue, Democracy is the Constitution's glue.

The worst evil of disregard for some law is that it destroys respect for all laws.

I am willing to pledge myself that if the time should ever come that the voluntary agencies of the country together with the localand state governments are unable to find resources with which to prevent hunger and sufferingI will ask the aid of every resource of the Federal Government.... I have the faith in the American people that such a day will not come.

The more complex the problems of the Nation become, the greater is the need for more and more advanced instruction.

National character cannot be built by law. It is the sum of the moral fiber of its individuals.

Engineering without imagination sinks to a trade.

Children are the most wholesome part of the race, the sweetest, for they are the freshest from the hand of god.

One of the primary necessities of the world for the maintenance of peace is the elimination of the frictions which arise from competitive armament.

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.

Twenty million people are starving. Whatever their politics, they shall be fed!

Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers.

Doctors think a lot of patients are cured who have simply quit in disgust.

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.

Let me remind you that credit is the lifeblood of business, the lifeblood of prices and jobs.

Economic depression can not be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement.

We are now speeding down the road of wasteful spending and debt, and unless we can escape we will be smashed in inflation.

Engineering is a great profession. There is the satisfaction of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings homes to men or women. Then it elevates the standard of living and adds to the comforts of life. This is the engineer's high privilege.

Prosperity cannot be restored by raids upon the public Treasury.

To go fishing is the chance to wash one's soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of sun on blue water. It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle-makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and egos, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you do not have to decide a darned thing until next week. And it is discipline in the equality of men - for all men are equal before fish.

Presidents cannot always kick evil-minded persons out of the front door. Such persons are often selected by the electors to represent them.

What the world needs today is a definite, spiritual mobilization of the nations who believe in God against this tide of Red agnosticism. It needs a moral mobilization against the hideous ideas of the police state and human slavery. I suggest that the United Nations should be reorganized without the Communist nations in it. It is a proposal based solely upon moral, spiritual and defense foundations. It is a proposal to redeem the concept of the United Nations to the high purpose for which it was created. It is a proposal for moral and spiritual cooperation of God-fearing free nations. And in rejecting an atheistic other world, I am confident that the Almighty God will be with us.

I am sure I'd have made a better all-around man if I hadn't lost so much time just making a living.

Prosperity is no idle expression. It is a job for every worker; it is the safety and safeguard of very business and every home. A continuation of the policies of the Republican party is fundamentally necessary to the future advancement of this progress and to the further building up of this prosperity.

Every collectivist revolution rides in on a Trojan horse of EMERGENCY.

Every generation has the right to build its own world out of the materials of the past, cemented by the hopes of the future.

Sportsmanship, next to the Church, is the greatest teacher of morals.

If the law is upheld only by government officials, then all law is at an end.

We must not be misled by the claim that the source of all wisdom is in the government.

We cannot change ideas in the minds of men and races with machine guns or battle ships.

The only problem with capitalism is the capitalists.

You convey too great a compliment when you say that I have earned the right to the presidential nomination. No man can establish such an obligation upon any part of the American people. My country owes me no debt. It gave me, as it gives every boy and girl, a chance. It gave me schooling, independence of action, opportunity for service and honor. In no other land could a boy from a country village, without inheritance or influential friends, look forward with unbounded hope. My whole life has taught me what America means. I am indebted to my country beyond any human power to repay.

We are in danger of developing a cult of the Common Man, which means a cult of mediocrity.

I am firmly opposed to the government entering into any business the major purpose of which is competition with our citizens... for the Federal Government deliberately to go out to build up and expand... a power and manufacturing business is to break down the initiative and enterprise of the American people; it is the destruction of equality of opportunity amongst our people, it is the negation of the ideals upon which our civilization has been based.

Any lack of confidence in the economic future or the basic strength of business in the United States is foolish.

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.

Unless the U.N. is completely reorganized without the Communist nations in it, we should get out of it.

An ideal is an unselfish aspiration. Its purpose is the general welfare not only of this but of future generations. It is a thing of the spirit. It is a generous and humane desire that all men may share equally in a common good. Our ideals are the cement, which binds human society.

Absolute freedom of the press to discuss public questions is a foundation stone of American liberty.

The only trouble with capitalism is capitalists; they're too damn greedy.

Be patient and calm; no one can catch fish in anger.

Wisdom consists not so much in knowing what to do in the ultimate as in knowing what to do next.

There are only two occasions when Americans respect privacy, especially in Presidents. Those are prayer and fishing.

Public health service should be as fully organized and as universally incorporated into our governmental system as is public education. The returns are a thousand fold in economic benefits, and infinitely more in reduction of suffering and promotion of human happiness.

A good many things go around in the dark besides Santa Claus.

There is no other book so various as the Bible, nor one so full of concentrated wisdom. Whether it be of law, business, morals...he who seeks for guidance...may look inside its covers and find illumination...

All men are equal before fish.

No public man can be just a little crooked. There is no such thing as a no-man's land between honesty and dishonesty.

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.

Honor is not the exclusive property of any political party.

You cannot extend the mastery of government over the daily life of a people without somewhere making it master of people's souls and thoughts.... Every step in that direction poisons the very roots of liberalism. It poisons political equality, free speech, free press, and equality of opportunity. It is the road not to more liberty but to less liberty.

America - a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose.

Fishing is more than fish; it is the vitalizing lure to outdoor life.

It is well to remember that the office of Chief Executive is in part a symbol of the nation and that leaders in a nation may differ in their own house but they have instant solidarity in the presence of foreign attack

Please find me a one-armed economist so we will not always hear, "On the other hand..."

The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned.

Once upon a time my political opponents honored me as possessing the fabulous intellectual and economic power by which I created a worldwide depression all by myself.

Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress.

. And it is youth who must inherit the tribulation, the sorrow and the triumphs that are the aftermath of war.

It [freedom] is a thing of the spirit. Men must be free to worship, to think, to hold opinions, to speak without fear. They must be free to challenge wrong and oppression with the surety of justice.

When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.

The future of nations cannot be frozen . . . cannot be foreseen. If we are going to accomplish anything in our time we must approach our problem in the knowledge that there is nothing rigid or immutable in human affairs. History is a story of growth, decay and change. If no provision, no allowance is made for change by peaceful means, it will come anyway - and with violence.

The structure of human betterment cannot be built upon foundations of materialism or business, but upon the bedrock of individual character in free men and women.

I'm the only person of distinction who has ever had a depression named for him.

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.

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.

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.

Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.

Freedom conceives that the mind and spirit of man can be free only if he is free to pattern his own life, to develop his own talents, free to earn, to spend, to save, to acquire property as the security of his old age and his family.

The more one observes, the more clearly does he see that it is in the soil of pure science that are found the origins of all our modern industry and commerce. In fact,our civilization is wholly built upon our scientific discoveries.

We are indebted to the Book of books (Bible) for our national ideals and institution. Their preservation rests in adhering to it's precepts.

Every collectivist revolution rides in on a Trojan horse of "emergency". It was the tactic of Lenin, Hitler, and Mussolini. In the collectivist sweep over a dozen minor countries of Europe, it was the cry of men striving to get on horseback. And "emergency" became the justification of the subsequent steps. This technique of creating emergency is the greatest achievement that demagoguery attains.

Self-government can succeed only through an instructed electorate.

Peace is not made at the council table or by treaties, but in the hearts of men.

Children add to the wonder of being alive.

The sole function of Government is to bring about a condition of affairs favorable to the beneficial development of private enterprise.

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.

We do not need to burn down the house to kill the rats

It is a great profession. There is the fascination of watching a figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realization in stone or metal or energy. Then it brings jobs and homes to men. Then it elevates the standards of living and adds to the comforts of life. That is the engineer's high privilege.

Words without actions are the assassins of idealism.

Freedom requires that government keep the channels of competition and opportunity open, prevent monopolies, economic abuse and domination.

[N]o country can squander itself to prosperity on the ruin of its taxpayers.

Our social and economic system cannot march toward better days unless it is inspired by things of the Spirit. It is here that the higher purposes of individualism must find their sustenance.

We have gold because we cannot trust governments

Wisdom often consists of knowing what to do next.

Love what is ahead by loving what has come before.

The durability of free speech and free press rests on the simple concept that it search for the truth and tell the truth.

The budget should be balanced not by more taxes, but by reduction of follies.

Children are our most valuable natural resource.

About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody moves the ends.

Fishing is a... discipline in the equality of men - for all men are equal before fish.

The pause between the errors and trials of the day and the hopes of the night.

Honest difference of views and honest debate are not disunity. They are the vital process of policy among free men.

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.

We need to add to the three R's, namely Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic, a fourth--- RESPONSIBILITY.

Along this road of spending, the government either takes over, which is Socialism, or dictates institutional and economic life, which is Fascism.

Being a politician is a poor profession. Being a public servant is a noble one.

While I can make no claim for having introduced the term "rugged individualism," I should be proud to have invented it. It has been used by American leaders for over a half-century in eulogy of those God-fearing men and women of honesty whose stamina and character and fearless assertion of rights led them to make their own way in life.

I believe not only that religious faith will be victorious, but that it is vital to humankind that it shall be. We may differ in form and particulars in our religious faith. Those are matters that are sacred to each of our inner sanctuaries. It is our privilege to decline to argue them. Their real demonstration is the lives that we live.

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.

Along with currency manipulation, the New Deal introduced to Americans the spectacle of Fascist dictation to business, labor, and agriculture.

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.

Blessed are the young for they shall inherit the national debt.

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.

If we could have but one generation of properly born, trained, educated, and healthy children, a thousand other problems of government would vanish.

Any practice of business which would dominate the country by its own selfish interest is a destruction of equality of opportunity. Government in business, except in emergency, is also a destruction of equal opportunity and the incarnation of tyranny through bureaucracy.

Lots of people committed crimes during the year who would not have done so if they had been fishing. The increase of crime is among those deprived of the regenerations that impregnate the mind and character of the fisherman.

Above all, we know that although Americans can be led to make great sacrifices, they do not like to be driven.

The supreme purpose of history is a better world.

I am convinced that ... we have reestablished confidence. Wages should remain stable. A very large degree of industrial unemployment and suffering which would otherwise have occurred has been prevented.

I come of Quaker stock. My ancestors were persecuted for their beliefs. Here they sought and found religious freedom. By blood and conviction I stand for religious tolerance both in act and in spirit.

To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort, and hope.

Our strength lies in spiritual concepts. It lies in public sensitivities to evil. Our greatest danger is not from invading armies. Our dangers are that we may commit suicide from within by complaisance with evil, or by public tolerance of scandalous behavior.

Governments know that the life of the world cannot be saved if the soul of the world is allowed to be lost.

Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die.

Baseball is the greatest of all team sports.