Things don’t turn up in this world until somebody turns them up.

Meaning of the quote

Things don't just happen by themselves. Someone has to make an effort and work to make new things happen. This quote means that if you want to discover or create something new, you have to take action and put in the work to make it happen. It won't just appear on its own.

About James A. Garfield

James A. Garfield was the 20th President of the United States, serving for just a few months in 1881 before being assassinated. He was a preacher, lawyer, and Civil War general who had a fascinating career, including a battle to become the Republican nominee for president against the powerful Stalwart faction.

More about the author

More quotes from James A. Garfield

Right reason is stronger than force.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

There can be no permanent disfranchised peasantry in the United States.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Ideas are the great warriors of the world, and a war that has no idea behind it, is simply a brutality.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

If you are not too large for the place you occupy, you are too small for it.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it’s the best possible substitute for it.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Ideas control the world.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

I have had many troubles in my life, but the worst of them never came.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

All free governments are managed by the combined wisdom and folly of the people.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Justice and goodwill will outlast passion.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

I mean to make myself a man, and if I succeed in that, I shall succeed in everything else.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

The ideal college is Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

I am trying to do two things: dare to be a radical and not a fool, which is a matter of no small difficulty.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Nobody but radicals have ever accomplished anything in a great crisis.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Suicide is not a remedy.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

The sin of slavery is one of which it may be said that without the shedding of blood there is no remission.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Territory is but the body of a nation. The people who inhabit its hills and valleys are its soul, its spirit, its life.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

The civil service can never be placed on a satisfactory basis until it is regulated by law.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

A brave man is a man who dares to look the Devil in the face and tell him he is a Devil.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

A law is not a law without coercion behind it.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

I love to deal with doctrines and events. The contests of men about men I greatly dislike.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Poverty is uncomfortable; but nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and compelled to sink or swim.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

He who controls the money supply of a nation controls the nation.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Few men in our history have ever obtained the Presidency by planning to obtain it.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

The chief duty of government is to keep the peace and stand out of the sunshine of the people.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

I am a poor hater.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

The President is the last person in the world to know what the people really want and think.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

Things don’t turn up in this world until somebody turns them up.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881

If wrinkles must be written on our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old.

James A. Garfield

president of the United States in 1881