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
Four-fifths of all our troubles would disappear, if we would only sit down and keep still.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Many of our problems arise from overthinking and restlessness. Taking a moment of stillness can help alleviate burdens.
Calvin Coolidge's quote suggests that a significant portion of the difficulties we face in life could be resolved if we simply took the time to pause and reflect, rather than rushing into action or over-analyzing our situations. This emphasizes the importance of tranquility and mindfulness in managing our troubles, indicating that sometimes, simply sitting quietly can lead to clarity and solutions that we might overlook in a state of agitation.
Themes
StillnessMindfulnessReflectionTroublesCalm
In practice
Example use cases
During a stressful meeting, one could share this quote to remind everyone to take a moment to pause and regroup.
More from Calvin Coolidge
All quotes βIt 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.
Calvin CoolidgeRead
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.
Calvin CoolidgeRead
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.
Calvin CoolidgeRead
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.
Calvin CoolidgeRead
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