The President of the United States should strive to be always mindful of the fact that he serves his party best who serves his country best.
Rutherford B. HayesRead
Personally I do not resort to force - not even the force of law - to advance moral reforms. I prefer education, argument, persuasion, and above all the influence of example - of fashion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of using education and persuasion over force to enact moral changes.
Rutherford B. Hayes suggests that true moral reform should not be achieved through coercion, including legal force, but rather through the more profound and lasting methods of education, reasoned argument, and the power of setting a positive example. He believes that influencing others through understanding and fashion is more effective than imposing change through laws or force.
Themes
EducationPersuasionMoral ReformExampleInfluence
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for community service, one might say, 'As Rutherford B. Hayes once stated, I believe in the influence of example rather than force.'
More from Rutherford B. Hayes
All quotes →Unjust attacks on public men do them more good than unmerited praise.
Rutherford B. HayesRead
Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts of meanness.
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Wars will remain while human nature remains. I believe in my soul in cooperation, in arbitration; but the soldier's occupation we cannot say is gone until human nature is gone.
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The bold enterprises are the successful ones. Take counsel of hopes rather than of fears to win in this business.
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It is the desire of the good people of the whole country that sectionalism as a factor in our politics should disappear.
Rutherford B. HayesRead
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