James A. Garfield (1831-1881) was the twentieth President of the United States, as well as a preacher of the gospel. In fact, he was the only minister to occupy the highest office in the land. He was a man of wisdom and character. Sadly, his life was cut short by an assassin.
Below are some quotes from President Garfield. These are taken from the book, From Log Cabin to the White House: The Life of James A. Garfield by William M. Thayer.
“Be fit for more than the one thing you are now doing.”
“A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck.”
“Nothing is more uncertain than the result of any one throw; few things more certain than the result of many throws.”
“If the power to do hard work is not talent, it is the best possible substitute for it.”
“There is scarcely a more pitiable sight than to see here and there learned men, so called, who have graduated in our own and the universities of Europe with high honors, and yet who could not harness a horse, or make out a bill of sale, if the world depended upon it.”
“It is no honor or profit merely to appear in the arena. The wreath is for those who contend.”
“I would rather be beaten in right than succeed in wrong.”
“The student should study himself, his relation to society, to nature, and to art, and above all, in all, and through all these, he should study the relations of himself, society, nature, and art to God, the Author of them all.”