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Herbert Hoover

67 quotes

“In no nation are the institutions of progress more advanced. In no nation are the fruits of accomplishment more secure. In no nation is the government more worthy of respect. No country is more loved by its people. I have an abiding faith in their capacity, integrity and high purpose. I have no fears for the future of our country. It is bright with hope.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the larger view the major forces of the depression now lie outside of the United States, and our recuperation has been retarded by the unwarranted degree of fear and apprehension created by these outside forces.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In its broad aspects, the proper feeding of children revolves around a public recognition of the interdependence of the human animal upon his cattle. The white race cannot survive without dairy products.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Vol. 1, Issue 1, June 1922.
“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 (1874–1964) first seen 1933 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From an article originally published in the February 6, 1949 issue of "This Week" Magazine, from "Addresses Upon the American Road,Volume: Volume 8: 1955-1960." Developed in speech entitled "Moral and Spiritual Recovery…
“Nor are liberal ideals alone sufficient: Ours is a practical people, to whom ideals furnish the theory of political action, upon which they want not only firm assurance, but also effective practice. They want programmes, but they want action to flow from them. They want constructive common sense. They want the development of the common will, not the views of a single individual. They are beginning to realize that words without action are the assassins of idealism. On the other side, they are equally disgusted with seeking for power by destructive criticism, demagoguery, specious promises and sham.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Excerpt from a statement to the New York Tribune concerning the 1920 Presidential campaign (29 April 1920)
“I have... instituted systematic, voluntary measures of cooperation with the business institutions and with State and municipal authorities to make certain that fundamental businesses of the country shall continue as usual, that wages and therefore consuming power shall not be reduced, and that a special effort shall be made to expand construction work in order to assist in equalizing other deficits in employment... I am convinced that through these measures 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. Agricultural prices have reflected the returning confidence. The measures taken must be vigorously pursued until normal conditions are restored.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: State of the Union Address (3 December 1929)
“If, by the grace of God, we have passed the worst of this storm, the future months will be easy. If we shall be called upon to endure more of this period, we must gird ourselves for even greater effort, for today we are writing the introduction to the future history of civilization in America. The question is whether that history shall be written in terms of individual responsibility, and the capacity of the Nation for voluntary cooperative action, or whether it shall be written in terms of futile attempt to cure poverty by the enactment of law, instead of the maintained and protected initiative of our people.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) first seen 1931 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the Gridiron Club (27 April 1931)
“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. Expansion of government in business means that the government, in order to protect itself from the political consequences of its errors, is driven irresistibly without peace to greater and greater control of the Nation's press and platform. Free speech does not live many hours after free industry and free commerce die. It is a false liberalism that interprets itself into Government operation of business. 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.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) first seen 1932 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Campaign speech at Madison Square Garden (31 October 1932)
“We chatter to-day of reactionaries, conservatives, liberals, and radicals. It is true that mental attitudes can be classified on this gamut, but in their application as political labels in the United States they have been wholly distorted. For instance, the term ‘liberal’ flows from the word ‘liberty’; it does not come from the word ‘coercion.’ Yet the New Deal has camouflaged itself with this honored term. Of course the dictionary also gives a definition of ‘liberal’ which connotes giving generously and spending freely. This attracts many people, but the dictionary means liberality with one’s own money. A ‘reactionary’ in ordinary times is a gentleman who wants to reëstablish the status quo ante. The New Deal wants to do precisely that—as a matter of fact it is status quo George III or Diocletian. This process has now attained the label of ‘liberal.’”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) first seen 1937 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Crisis and the Political Parties” The Atlantic (September 1937)
“In every single case before the rise of totalitarian governments there had been a period dominated by economic planners. Each of these nations had an era under starry-eyed men who believed that they could plan and force the economic life of the people. They believed that was the way to correct abuse or to meet emergencies in systems of free enterprise. They exalted the State as the solvent of all economic problems. These men thought they were liberals. But they also thought they could have economic dictatorship by bureaucracy and at the same time preserve free speech, orderly justice and free government. They might be called the totalitarian liberals. They were the spiritual fathers of the New Deal. These men are not Communists or Fascists. But they mixed these ideas into free systems.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech (June 25, 1940) at the Republican Convention in Philadelphia, PA. As quoted in The Roosevelt Myth, John T. Flynn, New York: NY, Devin-Adair Company (1948) p. 205
“It is true that Communists and Fascists were round about. They formed popular fronts and gave the applause. These men shifted the relation of government to free enterprise from that of umpire to controller. Directly or indirectly they politically controlled credit, prices, production of industry, farmer and laborer. They devalued, pump-primed and deflated. They controlled private business by government competition, by regulation and by taxes. They met every failure with demands for more and more power and control . . . When it was too late they discovered that every time they stretched the arm of government into private enterprise, except to correct abuse, then somehow, somewhere, men's minds became confused. At once men became fearful and hesitant. Initiative slackened, industry slowed down production. Then came chronic unemployment and frantic government spending in an effort to support the unemployed. Government debts mounted and finally government credit was undermined. Out of the miseries of their people there grew pressure groups—business, labor, farmers demanding relief or special privilege. Class hate poisoned cooperation.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech (June 25, 1940) at the Republican Convention in Philadelphia, PA. As quoted in The Roosevelt Myth, John T. Flynn, New York: NY, Devin-Adair Company (1948) pp. 205-206
“One of the oldest and perhaps the noblest of human aspirations has been the abolition of poverty. By poverty I mean the grinding by undernourishment, cold and ignorance and fear of old age of those who have the will to work. We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us. We have not yet reached the goal, but given a chance to go forward with the policies of the last eight years, and [sic] we shall soon with the 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.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My conception of America is a land where men and women may walk in ordered freedom in the independent conduct of their occupations; where they may enjoy the advantages of wealth, not concentrated in the hands of the few but spread through the lives of all; where they build and safeguard their homes, and give to their children the fullest advantages and opportunities of American life; where every man shall be respected in the faith that his conscience and his heart direct him to follow; where a contented and happy people, secure in their liberties, free from poverty and fear, shall have the leisure and impulse to seek a fuller life. Some may ask where all this may lead beyond mere material progress. It leads to a release of the energies of men and women from the dull drudgery of life to a wider vision and a higher hope. It leads to the opportunity for greater and greater service, not alone from man in our own land, but from our country to the whole world. It leads to an America, healthy in body, healthy in spirit, unfettered, youthful, eager — with a vision searching beyond the farthest horizons, with an open mind, sympathetic and generous.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The high tenet of this philosophy (Liberalism) is that Liberty is an endowment from the Creator of every individual man and woman upon which no power, whether economic or political, can encroach, and that not even the government may deny. And herein it challenges all other philosophies of society and government; for all others, both before and since, insist that the individual has no such unalienable rights, that he is but the servant of the state. Liberalism holds that man is master of the state, not the servant; that the sole purpose of government is to nurture and assure these liberties. All others insist that Liberty is not a God-given right; that the state is the master of the man.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The present economic organization of Fascism is based on the “Corporate State,” the necessity for which is stated to be “Economic Planning.” The Italian word Corporasioni currently translated as “corporation” is misleading, as its import is not our business corporation; it is more nearly that of the old English “guild.” In more modern expression, which again in American terms is not quite precise, the system is based upon the creation separately of Fascist “labor unions” and Fascist “trade associations” in each industry or calling, whose authority through committees and administrators is binding upon all those engaged in that industry or calling,…”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our tasks are definite. The first to see that no man, woman, or child shall go hungry or unsheltered through the approaching winter. The second is to see that our great benevolent agencies for character building, for hospitalization, for care of children and all their vast number of agencies of voluntary solicitude for the less fortunate are maintained in full strength. The third is to maintain the bedrock principle of our liberties by the full mobilization of individual and local resources and responsibilities. The fourth is that we may maintain the spiritual impulses in our people for generous giving and generous service—in the spirit that each is his brother’s keeper.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Engineering] 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. 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 that the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny that he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned. That is the phantasmagoria that haunts his nights and dogs his days. He comes from the job at the end of the day resolved to calculate it again. He wakes in the night in a cold sweat and puts something on paper that looks silly in the morning. All day he shivers at the thought of the bugs which will inevitably appear to jolt its smooth consummation. On the other hand, unlike the doctor his is not a life among the weak. Unlike the soldier, destruction is not his purpose. Unlike the lawyer, quarrels are not his daily bread. To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort, and hope. No doubt as years go by people forget which engineer did it, even if they ever knew. Or some politician puts his name on it. Or they credit it to some promoter who used other people’s money with which to finance it. But the engineer himself looks back at the unending stream of goodness which flows from his successes with satisfactions that few professions may know. And the verdict of his fellow professionals is all the accolades he wants.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source