1920s

Explore 345 quotes from the 1920s

Ours is a land rich in resources; stimulating in its glorious beauty; filled with millions of happy homes; blessed with comfort and opportunity. In no nation are the institutions of progress more advanced. In no nation are the fruits of accomplishment more secure. In no nation is the government more worthy of respect. No country is more loved by its people. I have an abiding faith in their capacity, integrity, and high purpose. I have no fears for the future of our country. It is bright with hope.

Herbert Hoover

Inaugural Address of Herbert Hoover

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Topic

American prosperity American pride

Speaker

Herbert Hoover

Source

Inaugural Address of Herbert Hoover Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1929 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Hoover, Herbert. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1929, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

As the traveller who has been once from home is wiser than he who has never left his own door step, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinise more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own.

Margaret Mead

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Topic

Effects of travel

Author

Margaret Mead

Source

Coming of Age in Samoa

Genre

Psychological literature

Language

English

Time

1928 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation. William Morrow and Co., 1928, introduction.

Current Citation

Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation. Mariner Books Classics, 2001, introduction.

The whole purpose of literature... Is the notation of the heart. Style is but the faintly contemptible vessel in which the bitter liquid is recommended to the world.

Thornton Wilder

The Bridge on San Luis Rey

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Topic

Purpose of literature

Author

Thornton Wilder

Source

The Bridge on San Luis Rey

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1927 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Albert & Charles Boni, 1927.

Current Citation

Wilder, Thornton. The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Vintage, 2023.

No one in this world, so far as I know...has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.

H.L. Mencken

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Topic

The masses

Author

H.L. Mencken

Source

Notes on Journalism Chicago Tribune

Medium

Article Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1926 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Mencken, Henry Louis. "Notes on Journalism." Chicago Tribune, 19 Sept. 1926.

There never can be equality of rewards or possessions so long as the human plan contains varied talents and differing degrees of industry and thrift, but ours ought to be a country free from the great blotches of distressed poverty.

Warren G. Harding

Inaugural Address of Warren G. Harding

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Topic

Natural inequality Poverty Economic inequality

Speaker

Warren G. Harding

Source

Inaugural Address of Warren G. Harding Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1921 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harding, William G. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1921, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

The bourgeois prefers comfort to pleasure, convenience to liberty, and a pleasant temperature to the deathly inner consuming fire.

Hermann Hesse

Steppenwolf

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Topic

Bourgeoisie Middle class values

Author

Hermann Hesse

Source

Steppenwolf

Medium

Novel

Language

German

Time

1927 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hesse, Herman. Der Steppenwolf [The Steppenwolf]. S. Fischer Verlag, 1927.

Current Citation

Hesse, Herman. Steppenwolf, translated by Basil Creighton. Picador, 2002.

Public opinion's always in advance of the law.

John Galsworthy

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Topic

Public opinion Law and culture Legal theory Law

Speaker

Mr. March

Author

John Galsworthy

Source

Windows

Medium

Play

Language

English

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Galsworthy, John. Windows. 1922, Royal Court Theatre, London, England, UK, act 1.

Everything we think of as great has come to us from neurotics. It is they and they alone who found religions and create great works of art. The world will never realise how much it owes to them and what they have suffered in order to bestow their gifts on it.

Marcel Proust

In Search of Lost Time

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Topic

Creativity

Speaker

Bergotte

Author

Marcel Proust

Source

In Search of Lost Time

Medium

Novel

Genre

Modernist literature

Language

French

Time

1921 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Proust, Marcel. Le Côté de Guermantes [The Guermantes Way]. Paris: Gallimard, 1920-1921.

Current Citation

Proust, Marcel. The Guermantes Way, edited and translated by Mark Treharne. Penguin Classics, 2005.

America, our America, the America builded on the foundation laid by the inspired fathers, can be a party to no permanent military alliance. It can enter into no political commitments, nor assume any economic obligations which will subject our decisions to any other than our own authority.

Warren G. Harding

Inaugural Address of Warren G. Harding

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Topic

Isolationism American foreign policy

Speaker

Warren G. Harding

Source

Inaugural Address of Warren G. Harding Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1921 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harding, William G. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1921, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Mankind is divisible into two great classes: hosts and guests.

Max Beerbohm

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Topic

Hospitality

Author

Max Beerbohm

Source

Hosts and Guests And Even Now

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Beerbohm, Max. "Hosts and Guests." And Even Now. William Heinemann, 1920. Originally published in Harper's Magazine, 1919.

The best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds.

Edgar A. Guest

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Topic

Practice what you preach Personal integrity

Author

Edgar A. Guest

Source

Sermons We See

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1926 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Guest, Edgar. Sermons We See. c. 1926.

What has once been settled by a precedent will not be unsettled over night, for certainty and uniformity are gains not lightly to be sacrificed.

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Topic

Stare decisis Constitutional theory

Speaker

Benjamin Cardozo

Source

The Paradoxes of Legal Science

Language

English

Time

1928 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Cardozo, Benjamin Nathan. "Stability and Progress." The Paradoxes of Legal Science. Columbia University Press, 1928.

There died a myriad,
And of the best, among them,
For an old bitch gone in the teeth,
For a botched civilization.

Ezra Pound

More information about this quote

Topic

World War I

Author

Ezra Pound

Source

Hugh Selwyn Mauberley

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Pound, Ezra. Hugh Selwyn Mauberley. The Ovid Press, 1920, pt. 1, poem 5.

It is necessary to keep the former experiences of our country both at home and abroad continually before us, if we are to have any science of government. If we wish to erect new structures, we must have a definite knowledge of the old foundations. We must realize that human nature is about the most constant thing in the universe and that the essentials of human relationship do not change. We must frequently take our bearings from these fixed stars of our political firmament if we expect to hold a true course. If we examine carefully what we have done, we can determine the more accurately what we can do.

Calvin Coolidge

Second Inaugural Address of Calvin Coolidge

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Topic

Wisdom of the past Learning from the past Immutability of human nature Human nature

Speaker

Calvin Coolidge

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Calvin Coolidge Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Coolidge, Calvin. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1925, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Look for the silver lining
Whene'er a cloud
Appears in the blue.

Buddy DeSylva

More information about this quote

Topic

Silver linings Optimism

Author

Buddy DeSylva

Source

Look for the Silver Lining Sally

Medium

Song Musical

Genre

Great American songbook

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

DeSylva, Buddy. "Look for the Silver Lining." Sally. Composed by Jerome Kern. 1920, New Amsterdam Theatre, New York City, New York, USA.

I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment, to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure-that is all agnosticism means.

Clarence Darrow

More information about this quote

Topic

Agnosticism Intellectual humility

Author

Clarence Darrow

Source

Scopes Monkey Trial

Medium

Courtroom speech Speech

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Darrow, Clarence. Criminal Court of Tennessee. The State of Tennessee vs. John Thomas Scopes. 21 July 1925.

If we would prevent the growth of class distinctions and would constantly refresh our leadership with the ideals of our people, we must draw constantly from the general mass. The full opportunity for every boy and girl to rise through the selective processes of education can alone secure to us this leadership.

Herbert Hoover

Inaugural Address of Herbert Hoover

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Topic

Equality of opportunity Meritocracy Class conflict Social class

Speaker

Herbert Hoover

Source

Inaugural Address of Herbert Hoover Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1929 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Hoover, Herbert. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1929, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

But I do know that about ten times as many people find their lives dull, and unnecessarily dull, as ever admit it; and I do believe that if we busted out and admitted it sometimes, instead of being nice and patient and loyal for sixty years, and then nice and patient and dead for the rest of eternity, why, maybe, possibly, we might make life more fun.

Sinclair Lewis

Babbitt

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Topic

Ennui Middle class conformity

Speaker

Paul Riesling

Author

Sinclair Lewis

Source

Babbitt

Medium

Novel

Genre

Satire

Language

English

Time

1922 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1922, ch. 5.

Current Citation

Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt, edited by Gordon Hutner. Oxford University Press, 2010, ch. 5.

But there is another element, more important than all, without which there can not be the slightest hope of a permanent peace. That element lies in the heart of humanity. Unless the desire for peace be cherished there, unless this fundamental and only natural source of brotherly love be cultivated to its highest degree, all artificial efforts will be in vain. Peace will come when there is realization that only under a reign of law, based on righteousness and supported by the religious conviction of the brotherhood of man, can there be any hope of a complete and satisfying life.

Calvin Coolidge

Second Inaugural Address of Calvin Coolidge

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Topic

Peace Rule of law Political theory

Speaker

Calvin Coolidge

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Calvin Coolidge Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Coolidge, Calvin. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1925, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Most troubles are unnecessary. We have Nature beaten; we can make her grow wheat; we can keep warm when she sends blizzards. So we raise the devil just for pleasure-wars, politics, race-hatreds, labor-disputes.

Sinclair Lewis

Main Street

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Topic

Man and nature The human condition

Speaker

Guy Pollock

Author

Sinclair Lewis

Source

Main Street

Medium

Novel

Genre

Satire

Language

English

Time

1920 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Lewis, Sinclair. Main Street. Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920, ch. 13.

Current Citation

Lewis, Sinclair. "Main Street." Sinclair Lewis: Main Street and Babbitt, edited by John Hersey. Library of America, 1992, ch. 13.