This summer, I spent a week in Plymouth, Vermont, birthplace of Calvin Coolidge. It turns out that he was kind of a hard-ass. Here’s a couple of quotes.

“Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.”

and

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people 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.
– Calvin Coolidge