Chester A. Arthur quotes

Chester A. Arthur was the 21st President of the United States, taking office after the assassination of James Garfield. Known for his efforts in civil service reform, he helped implement significant changes to government practices. He presided over a period of modernization and set an example for honest public administration. Here are 15 of his quotes:

Men may die, but the fabric of our free institutions remains unshaken. (Chester A. Arthur)
Madam, I may be President of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damn business. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
The extravagant expenditure of public money is an evil not to be measured by the value of that money to the people who are taxed for it. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
Honors to me now are not what they once were. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
I trust the time is nigh when, with the universal assent of civilized people, all international differences shall be determined without resort to arms by the benignant processes of civilization. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
Experience has shown that the trade of the East is the key to national wealth and influence. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
There are very many characteristics which go into making a model civil servant. Prominent among them are probity, industry, good sense, good habits, good temper, patience, order, courtesy, tact, self-reliance, many deference to superior officers, and many consideration for inferiors. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
The office of the Vice-President is a greater honor than I ever dreamed of attaining. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
Indiana was really, I suppose, a Democratic State. It has always been put down in the book as a state that might be carried by a close and careful and perfect organization and a great deal of- [from audience: "soap,” in reference to purchased votes, the word being followed by laughter]. I see reporters here, and therefore I will simply say that everybody showed a great deal of interest in the occasion, and distributed tracts and political documents all through the country. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
The health of the people is of supreme importance. All measures looking to their protection against the spread of contagious diseases and to the increase of our sanitary knowledge for such purposes deserve attention of Congress. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
As is natural with contiguous states having like institutions and like aims of advancement and development, the friendship of the United States and Mexico has been constantly maintained. (Chester A. Arthur)
The countries of the American continent and the adjacent islands are for the United States the natural marts of supply and demand. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
What a pleasant lot of fellows they are. What a pity they have so little sense about politics. If they lived North the last one of them would be Republicans. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
It is provided by the Constitution that the President shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the Union and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. View quote
Chester A. Arthur
I don't think we had better go into the minute secrets of the campaign, so far as I know them... while I don't mean to say anything about my birthplace, whether it was in Canada or elsewhere, still, if I should get to going about the secrets of the campaign, there is no saying what I might say to make trouble between now and the 4th of March. View quote
Chester A. Arthur