Political Quotes

George F. Hoar: “It is as idle to attempt to make an ounce of silver worth as much as an ounce of gold by legislation, as it is to try to…”

On the record
It is as idle to attempt to make an ounce of silver worth as much as an ounce of gold by legislation, as it is to try to make one pound weigh two pounds, or one yard measure two yards.
Said by
George F. Hoar
Massachusetts

Editor's note · Context

Hoar uses a metaphor to illustrate the futility of legislating the value of silver compared to gold.

Share

More from George F. Hoar

To go fully into the role of the number three in British traditions would require a profound study; but it may be useful briefly to note its influence on the Bardic poetry-- the Triads, where the subjects are all grouped in threes.

gutenberg.org

It is not too much to say that most of the main roads in England are Roman; but the very continuity of their use has caused this to be overlooked.

gutenberg.org

We speak of a light that makes darkness visible; and similarly there are sounds that deepen the long intervals of silence with which they alternate.

gutenberg.org

And the Greeks, in turn, owed their astronomy to the Egyptians, with whom the year was reckoned as of three hundred and sixty days; and this three hundred and sixty-day year gives us the clue to the forty-day period for holding the Forest…

gutenberg.org

Other voices in this conversation