Coolidge on Talent

I recently ran across a set of great quotes from Calvin Coolidge, the 30^th President of the United States. This time I won’t bother you with the convoluted trail that lead me to him. He rose to notoriety as Governor of Massachusetts during his cool handling of the Boston Police Officer’s Strike.  His stance during the strike probably lead to the surprise nomination of the Republican National Convention  to be Warren G. Harding’s Vice Presidential candidate. After Harding’s sudden death he was sworn in as President. He was known as keen mind and a cool head.  In fact in 1924, his reelection slogan was “Keep Cool with Coolidge”. In the same year he passed the Indian Citizenship Act, granting Native Americans citizenship. He worked hard to improve their treatment and condition.

He was known as a man of few words. While he was President Harding’s Vice President, a society matron once said at a dinner party, "Mr. Vice President, I made a bet with my friends that I could get you to say at least three words this evening." Coolidge fixed a steely glare on her and said: "You lose." https://www.whitehousehistory.org/the-life-and-presidency-of-calvin-coolidge

 

In the next few weeks I plan to muse about the three words, Talent, Genius, and Education. This week is talent. Every so often I hear a high school student say “I’ve got skills”. The question I usually ask is “But do you have the character to use those skills?” Coolidge said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Think about your high school yearbook. Almost every class votes on standout students. It could be most best smile or best dresser. Invariably, there will be something about most talented, or most likely to succeed. But where are they now. Most did not really stand out. Some ended up mediocre; some even failed miserably. I can’t even count the athletes who claimed they will be the greatest and then never even finished college. I do see many “average guys” and “average ladies” who are tearing it up out there. So talent does not automatically equate to success.

Even Jesus told a parable about it. Yes, I know that the “talent” He mentions in Matthew 25:14-30, is technically about money, but the same principle applies. Without hard work (persistence as Coolidge notes) is a huge factor. If we bury our talent in the ground and don’t practice it, it will gain nothing. Stay with it and don’t quit. In the words of Coolidge, Press On!

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”  - Calvin Coolidge