Quotes by Presidents - Page 7

If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.
Abraham Lincoln
If we could believe that he [Jesus] really countenanced the follies, the falsehoods, and the charlatanism which his biographers [Gospels] father on him, and admit the misconstructions, interpolations, and theorizations of the fathers of the early, and the fanatics of the latter ages, the conclusion would be irresistible by every sound mind that he was an impostor... We find in the writings of his biographers matter of two distinct descriptions. First, a groundwork of vulgar ignorance, of things impossible, of superstitions, fanaticisms and fabrications... That sect [Jews] had presented for the object of their worship, a being of terrific character, cruel, vindictive, capricious and unjust... Jesus had to walk on the perilous confines of reason and religion: and a step to right or left might place him within the gripe of the priests of the superstition, a blood thirsty race, as cruel and remorseless as the being whom they represented as the family God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, and the local God of Israel. They were constantly laying snares, too, to entangle him in the web of the law... That Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as the son of God, physically speaking, I have been convinced by the writings of men more learned than myself in that lore.[Letter to William Short, 4 August, 1820]
Thomas Jefferson
No people who are ignorant can be truly free.
Thomas Jefferson
no people can be both ignorant and free.
Thomas Jefferson
The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.
Thomas Jefferson
Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Vir
Thomas Jefferson
Everything is useful which contributes to fix in the principles and practices of virtue.
Thomas Jefferson
What a stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is man! Who can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment and death itself in vindication of his own liberty, and the next moment . . . inflict on his fellow men a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with more misery than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose.
Thomas Jefferson
When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.
Thomas Jefferson
Experience declares that man is the only animal which devours his own kind; for I can apply no milder term to the governments of Europe, and to the general prey of the rich on the poor.
Thomas Jefferson
The contest is not between Us and Them, but between Good and Evil, and if those who would fight Evil adopt the ways of Evil, Evil wins.
Thomas Jefferson
The poor who have neither property, friends, nor strength to labor are boarded in the houses of good farmers, to whom a stipulated sum is annually paid. To those who are able to help themselves a little or have friends from whom they derive some succor, inadequate however to their full maintenance, supplementary aids are given which enable them to live comfortably in their own houses or in the houses of their friends. Vagabonds without visible property or vocation, are placed in work houses, where they are well clothed, fed, lodged, and made to labor
Thomas Jefferson
A Man's management of his own purse speaks volumes about character
Thomas Jefferson
No one knows, and few conceive, the agony of mind that I have suffered from the time that I was made by circumstances, and not by my volition, a candidate for the Presidency till I was dismissed from that station by the failure of my election.
John Quincy Adams
I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work.
Thomas Jefferson
My greatest concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are concerned with your failure.
Abraham Lincoln
I am not concerned that you have fallen -- I am concerned that you arise.
Abraham Lincoln
The struggle of today, is not altogether for today - it is for a vast future also.
Abraham Lincoln
I think one travels more usefully when they travel alone, because they reflect
Thomas Jefferson
To the corruptions of Christianity I am, indeed opposed; but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense in which he wished any one to be; sincerely attached to his doctrines, in preference to all others.
Thomas Jefferson
And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
Abraham Lincoln
Respected Teacher,My son will have to learn that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for ever scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.It will take time, I know; but teach him, if you can, that a dollar earned is far more valuable than five found.Teach him to learn to lose and also to enjoy winning.Steer him away from envy, if you can.Teach him the secret of quite laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to tick.Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books... but also give him quiet time to ponder over the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and flowers on a green hill.In school teach him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat.Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if every one tells him they are wrong.Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough.Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when every one is getting on the bandwagon.Teach him to listen to all men but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.Teach him, if you can, how to laugh when he is sad. Teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness.Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders; but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul.Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob… and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right.Treat him gently; but do not cuddle him because only the test of fire makes fine steel.Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself because then he will always have sublime faith in mankind.This is a big order; but see what you can do. He is such a fine little fellow, my son.(Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s Head Master)
Abraham Lincoln
Achievement has no COLOR.
Abraham Lincoln
One company can serve some of your needs all of the time, or all of your needs some of the time, but never both.
Abraham Lincoln
I find that the harder I work , the more luck I seem to have.
Thomas Jefferson
If any man ceases to attack me, I never remember the past against him.
Abraham Lincoln
No man was to be eulogized for what he did; or censured for what he did or did not do. All of us are the children of conditions, of circumstances, of environment, of education, of acquired habits and of heredity; moulding men as they are and will for ever be.
Abraham Lincoln
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
Abraham Lincoln
...it is not to be understood that I am with him [Jesus] in all his doctrines. I am a Materialist, he takes the side of spiritualism; he preaches the efficacy of repentance toward forgiveness of sin. I require a counterpoise of good works to redeem it... Among the sayings & discourses imputed to him by his biographers, I find many passages of fine imagination, correct morality, and of the most lovely benevolence: and others again of so much ignorance, so much absurdity, so much untruth, charlatanism, and imposture, as to pronounce it impossible that such contradictions should have proceeded from the same
Thomas Jefferson
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.
Abraham Lincoln
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
Abraham Lincoln
This institution will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.
Thomas Jefferson
All that is necessary for a student is access to a library.
Thomas Jefferson
I was a little cross.I ask pardon. If I do get up a little temper I have no sufficient time to keep it up.
Abraham Lincoln
What is to be, will be, and no prayers of ours can arrest the decree.[Lincoln's maxim and philosophy]
Abraham Lincoln
To believe in the things you can see and touch is no belief at all - but to believe in the unseen is a triumph and a blessing.
Abraham Lincoln
Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.
Abraham Lincoln
Bigotry is the disease of ignorance, of morbid minds; enthusiasm of the free and buoyant. Education and free discussion are the antidotes of both. We are destined to be a barrier against the returns of ignorance and barbarism. Old Europe will have to lean on our shoulders, and to hobble along by our side, under the monkish trammels of priests and kings, as she can. What a Colossus shall we be when the Southern continent comes up to our mark! What a stand will it secure as a ralliance for the reason & freedom of the globe! I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. So good night. I will dream on, always fancying that Mrs Adams and yourself are by my side marking the progress and the obliquities of ages and countries.
Thomas Jefferson
I am growing old enough not to care much for the MANNER of doing things.
Abraham Lincoln
I am sure I'd have made a better all-around man if I hadn't lost so much time just making a living.
Herbert Hoover
I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.
Thomas Jefferson
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.-Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
It is a wise man who said there is no inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.Fillossofee: Messages From a Grandfather, an ebook
Thomas Jefferson
The executive power in our government is not the only, perhaps not even the principal, object of my solicitude. The tyranny of the legislature is really the danger most to be feared, and will continue to be so for many years to come. The tyranny of the executive power will come in its turn, but at a more distant period.
Thomas Jefferson
In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions.
Abraham Lincoln
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
Abraham Lincoln
Even in Europe a change has sensibly taken place in the mind of man. Science has liberated the ideas of those who read and reflect, and the American example has kindled feelings of right in the people.
Thomas Jefferson
No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa & America.
Thomas Jefferson
If this country is ever demoralized, it will come from trying to live without work.
Abraham Lincoln
If you serve humanity, you serve humanity's God.
Thomas Jefferson
We shall need all the anti-slavery feeling in the country, and more; you can go home and try to bring the people to your views, and you may say anything you like about me, if that will help... When the hour comes for dealing with slavery, I trust I will be willing to do my duty though it cost my life.
Abraham Lincoln
History is philosophy teaching by examples.
Thomas Jefferson
‎We must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Thomas Jefferson
Let us save what remains: not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in consigning them to the waste of time, but by such a multiplication of copies, as shall place them beyond the reach of accident.
Thomas Jefferson
It will not do to investigate the subject of religion too closely, as it is apt to lead to infidelity.
Abraham Lincoln
History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.
Thomas Jefferson
‎We must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Thomas Jefferson
Let us save what remains: not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in consigning them to the waste of time, but by such a multiplication of copies, as shall place them beyond the reach of accident.
Thomas Jefferson
It will not do to investigate the subject of religion too closely, as it is apt to lead to infidelity.
Abraham Lincoln
History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.
Thomas Jefferson