They criticize me for harping on the obvious; if all the folks in the United States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves.
Calvin CoolidgeRead
If we judge ourselves only by our aspirations and everyone else only their conduct we shall soon reach a very false conclusion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the disparity between self-perception and the perception of others, cautioning against unfair judgments.
Calvin Coolidge's quote emphasizes the danger of evaluating oneself only based on personal aspirations while judging others solely by their actions. This leads to an imbalanced view and can result in misguided conclusions about ourselves and those around us. It serves as a reminder to consider the complexities of both our intentions and the behaviors of others.
Themes
JudgmentAspirationsConductPerceptionSelf-Awareness
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about understanding personal growth and biases.
More from Calvin Coolidge
All quotes →It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion. They are always surrounded by worshipers. They are constantly, and for the most part sincerely, assured of their greatness.
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America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality.
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No method of procedure has ever been devised by which liberty could be divorced from local self-government. No plan of centralization has ever been adopted which did not result in bureaucracy, tyranny, inflexibility, reaction, and decline.
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Whether one traces his Americanism back three centuries to the Mayflower, or three years to the steerage, is not half so important as whether his Americanism of today is real and genuine. No matter by what various crafts we came here, we are all now in the same boat.
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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.
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