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Herbert Hoover

Herbert Hoover Quotes

31st U.S. President

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Famous Herbert Hoover Quotes

“The party should stand for a constantly wider diffusion of property. That is the greatest social and economic security that can come to free men. It makes free men. We want a nation of proprietors, not a state of collectivists. That is attained by creating a national wealth and income, not by destroying it. The income and estate taxes create an orderly movement to diffuse swollen fortunes more effectively than all the quacks.”

MenWantShouldStatesWisdomPoliticsNationsSocialWealthPartyEconomyEconomicSecurityMovementTaxesCreatingPropertyFortuneIncomeLiberalismDestroyingEstatesFree ManOrderlySwollenQuacksDiffusionEconomic SecurityEstate Taxes
Book:Addresses Upon the American Road
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“More than ten million women march to work every morning side by side with the men. Steadily the importance of women is gaining notonly in the routine tasks of industry but in executive responsibility. I include also the woman who stays at home as the guardian of the welfare of the family. She is a partner in the job and wages. Women constitute a part of our industrial achievement.”

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Book:The New Day: Campaign Speeches of Herbert Hoover, 1928
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“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.”

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Book:Herbert Hoover: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President
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“Many years ago, I concluded that a few hair shirts were part of the mental wardrobe of every man. The president differs from other men in that he has a more extensive wardrobe.”

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Book:Hoover After Dinner: Addresses Delivered by Herbert Hoover Before the Gridiron Club of Washington, D. C., with Other Informal Speeches
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“Unemployment in the sense of distress is widely disappearing. . . . We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poor-house is vanishing from among us. We have not yet reached the goal, but given a change to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, and we shall soon with he help of God be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation. There is no guarantee against poverty equal to a job for every man. That is the primary purpose of the economic policies we advocate”

MenYearsHelpingTodayJobsLastsAmericaPurposeHouseGivenNationsGoalPoorPovertyEconomicLandPolicyEqualSightFinalsEightDisappearEvery ManPrimariesTriumphGuaranteesDistressUnemploymentVanishingEconomic PolicyAmerica Today
Author:Herbert Hoover
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“Honest difference of views and honest debate are not disunity. They are the vital process of policy among free men.”

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Book:40 Key Questions about Our Foreign Policy: Answered in Important Addresses and Statements Delivered Between 1941 and 1952
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“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.”

MenWayShouldHas BeensI CanCharacterUsedTermHalfLeaderRightsCenturyHonestyProudMen And WomenClaimsFearlessIndividualismBe ProudAssertionEulogyStaminaRuggedWay In LifeRugged IndividualismGod Fearing Man
Book:Challenge Liberty
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“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.”

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Book:Herbert Hoover: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President
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“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.”

MenCountryPoliticsStepsCryRevolutionAchievementCreatingEuropeHorseStriveTechniqueTyrannyTyrantsDozenJustificationMinorsEmergenciesTacticsGreatest AchievementDemagogueryHorsebackTrojansTrojan Horse
Book:Memoirs: The great depression, 1929-1941
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“If America is to be run by the people, it is the people who must think. And we do not need to put on sackcloth and ashes to think. Nor should our minds work like a sundial which records only sunshine. Our thinking must square against some lessons of history, some principles of government and morals, if we would preserve the rights and dignity of men to which this nation is dedicated.”

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Book:Addresses Upon the American Road, 1948-1950
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“I am interested to learn that a group of distinguished men and women is to be formed to spread knowledge and appreciation of the rehabilitation which is going forward in Palestine under Jewish auspices, and to add my expression to the sentiment among our people in favor of the realization of the age-old aspirations of the Jewish people for the restoration of their national homeland.”

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Book:Herbert Hoover: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President
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“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.”

MenHomeJobsMovingScienceEnergyImaginationPlansComfortPaperStandardsStonesAddPrivilegeProfessionAidsRealizationPresidentialMetalsEngineeringEngineersFascinationStandards Of LivingFigmentsCivil EngineerCivil EngineeringEngineering Inspirational
Book:The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: Years of adventure, 1874-1920
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“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.”

PeopleIfsMenHardForgetMistakeStepsAirTreeJudgingPoliticianDoctorsBlameDenyProfessionLawyerScreensArguingGravesSubstancePresidentialOpponentsArchitectEngineeringEngineersShortcomingsVinesLiabilityThin AirCivil EngineerCivil Engineering
Book:Memoirs: Years of adventure, 1874-1920
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“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.”

MenSoulInspirationHateNextWaterChanceSunAirWeekDisciplinePureEqualEgoBlueCharityFishesProfitFishingMakersRejoiceDecencyBrooksMockeryNext WeekMeeknessTroutFly FishingAnglingShimmerEquality Of ManTrout FishingBlue Water
Book:Addresses Upon the Road: World War II, 1941-1945
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“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.”

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Book:The New Day: Campaign Speeches of Herbert Hoover, 1928
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“Man is still by instinct a predatory animal given to devilish aggression. The discoveries of science have immensely increased productivity of material things. They have increased the standards of living and comfort. They have eliminated infinite drudgery. They have increased leisure. But that gives more time for devilment. The work of science has eliminated much disease and suffering. It has increased the length of life. That, together with increase in productivity, has resulted in vastly increased populations. Also it increased the number of people engaged in devilment.”

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Author:Herbert Hoover
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