[Ads-l] Quote Origin: Heaven Help America When She Loses Faith in Slogans

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

I received a request to trace the quotation in the subject line.
In 1929 the United States experienced the stock market crash and the
beginning of the Great Depression which continued for about ten years.

In April 1932 a meeting of the Academy of Political Science was held
at the Hotel Astor in New York City. Sir Josiah Stamp, the director of
the Bank of England, delivered a speech that was printed in the
proceedings. Stamp commented on the disillusionment of the U.S.
public:

[Begin excerpt]
First of all, I notice a great loss of faith in institutions;
institutions of government, institutions of control, institutions of
finance, institutions of education no longer command the general
confidence. ... They feel doubtful about them. They have discovered,
rightly or wrongly, that they are not the source of all wisdom. Also I
see a considerable lack of confidence in men whose names you would
have considered as infallible, something to conjure with, a year or
two ago. But worst of all, from the American point of view, there has
been a loss of faith in slogans—and heaven help America when she loses
faith in slogans!
[End excerpt]

Here is a link to the Quote Investigator article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/10/03/faith-slogans/

Feedback welcome
Garson O'Toole

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