List of Rutherford B. Hayes Quotes

My Only Objection To The Arrangements There Is The Two-in-a-bed System. It Is Bad. But Let Your Words And Conduct Be Perfectly Pure - Such As Your Mother Might Know Without Bringing A Blush To Your Cheek. If Not Already Mentioned, Do Not Tell Your Mother Of The Doubling In Bed.

In Sumter And Other Counties [in South Carolina] The Whites Are Resorting To Intimidation And Violence To Prevent The Colored People From Organizing For The Elections. The Division There Is Still On The Color Line. Substantially All The Whites Are Democrats And All The Colored People Are Republicans. There Is No Political Principle In Dispute Between Them. The Whites Have The Intelligence, The Property, And The Courage Which Make Power. The Negroes Are For The Most Part Ignorant, Poor, And Timid. My View Is That The Whites Must Be Divided There Before A Better State Of Things Will Prevail.

All Appointments Hurt. Five Friends Are Made Cold Or Hostile For Every Appointment; No New Friends Are Made. All Patronage Is Perilous To Men Of Real Ability Or Merit. It Aids Only Those Who Lack Other Claims To Public Support.

I Do Not Think A Revival Of Business Will Be Greatly Postponed By [samuel J.] Tilden's Election. Business Prosperity Does Not, Inmy Judgment, Depend On Government So Much As Men Commonly Think.

I Leave The Governor's Office Next Week, And With It Public Life[which] Has Been On The Whole A Pleasant One. But For Ten Years And Over My Salaries Have Not Equalled My Expenses, And There Has Been A Feeling Of Responsibility, A Lack Of Independence, And A Necessary Neglect Of My Family And Personal Interests And Comfort, Which Make The Prospect Of A Change Comfortable To Think Of.

Youth, However, Is A Defect That She Is Fast Getting Away From And May Perhaps Be Entirely Rid Of Before I Shall Want Her.

There Can Be No Complete And Permanent Reform Of The Civil Service Until Public Opinion Emancipates Congressmen From All Control And Influence Over Government Patronage. Legislation Is Required To Establish The Reform. No Proper Legislation Is To Be Expected As Long As Members Of Congress Are Engaged In Procuring Offices For Their Constituents.

My Father And Mother In 1817 Were Forty-nine Days On The Road With Their Emigrant Wagons [from Vermont] To Ohio. More Than Two Days For Each Hour That I Spent In The Same Journey.

A Few Ideas Seem To Be Agreed Upon. Help None But Those Who Help Themselves. Educate Only At Schools Which Provide In Some Form For Industrial Education. These Two Points Should Be Insisted Upon. Let The Normal Instruction Be That Men Must Earn Their Own Living, And That By The Labor Of Their Hands As Far As May Be. This Is The Gospel Of Salvation For The Colored Man. Let The Labor Not Be Servile, But In Manly Occupations Like That Of The Carpenter, The Farmer, And The Blacksmith.

I See No Reason Why Indians Who Can Give Satisfactory Proof Of Having By Their Own Labor Supported Their Families For A Number Of Years, And Who Are Willing To Detach Themselves From Their Tribal Relations, Should Not Be Admitted To The Benefit Of The Homestead Act And The Privileges Of Citizenship, And I Recommend The Passage Of A Law To That Effect. It Will Be An Act Of Justice As Well As A Measure Of Encouragement.

The Man Of Large And Conspicuous Public Service In Civil Life Must Be Content Without The Presidency. Still More, The Availability Of A Popular Man In A Doubtful State Will Secure Him The Prize In A Close Contest Against The First Statesman Of The Country Whose State Is Safe.

I Am Succeeding Very Well So Far With My Legging, But It Is A Very Mean Business For A Man That Has Been Well Brought Up To Engage In. It Is The Only Way To Get A Bill From Cincinnati Through, So It Must Be Done.