Quotes by Rutherford B. Hayes

“He serves his party best who serves his country best.”

“It is the desire of the good people of the whole country that sectionalism as a factor in our politics should disappear...”

“An amazing invention - but who would ever want to use one?”

“In avoiding the appearance of evil, I am not sure but I have sometimes unnecessarily deprived myself and others of innocent enjoyments.”

“It will be the duty of the Executive, with sufficient appropriations for the purpose, to prosecute unsparingly all who have been engaged in depriving citizens of the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution.”

“Coming in, I was denounced as a fraud by all the extreme men of the opposing party, and as an ingrate and a traitor by the same class of men in my own party. Going out, I have the good will, blessings, and approval of the best people of all parties . . .”

“Virtue is defined to be mediocrity, of which either extreme is vice.”

The real difficulty is with the vast wealth and power in the hands of the few and the unscrupulous who represent or control capital. Hundreds of laws of Congress and the state legislatures are in the interest of these men and against the interests of workingmen. These need to be exposed and repealed. All laws on corporations, on taxation, on trusts, wills, descent, and the like, need examination and extensive change. This is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people no longer. It is a government of corporations, by corporations, and for corporations.

The bold enterprises are the successful ones. Take counsel of hopes rather than of fears to win in this business.

Wars will remain while human nature remains. I believe in my soul in cooperation, in arbitration; but the soldiers occupation we cannot say is gone until human nature is gone.

The independence of all political and other bother is a happiness.

Do not let your bachelor ways crystallize so that you cant soften them when you come to have a wife and a family of your own.

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.

Conscience is the authentic voice of God to you.

The filth and noise of the crowded streets soon destroy the elasticity of health which belongs to the country boy.

No person connected with me by blood or marriage will be appointed to office.

It is the desire of the good people of the whole country that sectionalism as a factor in our politics should disappear.

Law without education is a dead letter. With education the needed law follows without effort and, of course, with power to execute itself; indeed, it seems to execute itself.

Universal suffrage should rest upon universal education. To this end, liberal and permanent provision should be made for the support of free schools by the State governments, and, if need be, supplemented by legitimate aid from national authority.

Unjust attacks on public men do them more good than unmerited praise.