Calvin Coolidge Comments: "the real reform which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions, or they will not come at all."

‎"There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of law for the virtue of man. Of course we endeavor to restrain the vicious, and furnish a fair degree of security and protection by legislation and police control, but the real reform which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, humanity, charity—these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of divine grace." -- Calvin Coolidge

 

Calvin Coolidge Comments on the Negative Effects of Taxes on the Economy

"Another and most important consideration, a fact that cannot be controverted, is that taxes have to be paid by the public. They cannot be imposed on any class. There is no power that can prevent a distribution of the burden. The landlord may be the one who sends a check to the public treasury, but his tenants nevertheless make the payment. A great manufacturer may contribute a large share to his income, but still the money comes from the consumer. Taxes must and do fall on the people in whatever form or name they are laid. There is no other source rich enough or powerful enough to meet the public requirements. It is useless to delude ourselves, and fraudulent to attempt to delude others, with the claim that the public revenues are or can be derived from any source save the people them selves. Property cannot long be taxed. It can be confiscated. Ultimately it is always the user of property that is taxed. In Massachusetts the users of the property are the people. The taxes are paid by the people.

It is impossible to escape the conclusion that high taxes make high prices. So long as the cost of government is high the cost of living will be high. This is usually a source of misunderstanding and always a source of discontent. The duty that government now owes to the people is to reduce their burdens by paying off the obligations that came from the war rather than imposing additional burdens for the support of new projects. The Commonwealth needs a double portion of the civilizing influence of conservation and economy. Having met our war obligation to pay, let us meet our peace obligation to save.

The unsound social and economic theories which deluge the earth from time to time are not the progeny of stalwart men and women. Sound bodies do not breed unsound doctrines. Along with a vigorous training for physical development should go a teaching to think healthful thoughts. For after all it must be remembered that "as a man thinketh in his heart so is he."

By His Excellency, Governor Calvin Coolidge- from his Address to the Massachusetts General Court- January 8, 1920

Calvin Coolidge Comments: "The best that is in man is not bought with a price."

"We need to change our standards; not of property but of thought. We need to stop trying to be better than some one else, and start doing something for some one else. If we put all the emphasis on our material prosperity, that prosperity will perish, and with it will perish our civilization. The best that is in man is not bought with a price. To offer money only is to appeal to his weakness not his strength. Man is more than of the earth. He will not find his satisfaction in things that are of the earth earthy. Employer and employed must find their satisfaction not in a money return, but in a service rendered; not in the quantity of goods, but the quality of character. Industry must be humanized not destroyed. It must be the instrument not of selfishness but of service. Change not the law but the attitude of the mind. Let our citizens look not to false prophets but to the Pilgrims; let them fix their eyes on Plymouth Rock as well as Beacon Hill. The supreme choice must be not the things that are seen but the things that are unseen." 

By His Excellency Governor Calvin Coolidge- from his Address to the Massachusetts General Court- January 8, 1920

Calvin Coolidge Comments: "The taxes of the Nation must be reduced now as much as prudence will permit, and expenditures must be reduced accordingly."

"The taxes of the Nation must be reduced now as much as prudence will permit, and expenditures must be reduced accordingly. High taxes reach everywhere and burden everybody. They gear most heavily upon the poor. They diminish industry and commerce. They make agriculture unprofitable. They increase the rates on transportation. They are a charge on every necessary of life. Of all services which the Congress can render to the country, I have no hesitation in declaring to neglect it, to postpone it, to obstruct it by unsound proposals, is to become unworthy of public confidence and untrue to public trust."
President Calvin Coolidge- first annual message- December 6, 1923

Christmas is not a time or season, but a state of mind.

"To the American People: Christmas is not a time nor a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world." 

~ Calvin Coolidge -  Presidential message (December 25, 1927).

Calvin Coolidge Comments- "We need a broader, firmer, deeper faith in the people..."

 

"We need a broader, firmer, deeper faith in the people; A faith that men desire to do right, that the Commonwealth is founded upon a righteousness which will endure, a reconstructed faith that the final approval of the people is given not to demagogues, slavishly pandering to their selfishness, merchandising with the clamor of the hour, but to statesmen, ministering to their welfare, representing their deep, silent, abiding convictions. 

Statutes must appeal to more than material welfare. Wages won't satisfy, be they never so large. Nor houses; nor lands; nor coupons, though they fall thick as the leaves of autumn. Man has a spiritual nature. Touch it, and it must respond as the magnet responds to the pole. To that, not to selfishness, let the laws of the Commonwealth appeal. Recognize the immortal worth and dignity of man. Let the laws of Massachusetts proclaim to her humblest citizen, performing the most menial task, the recognition of his manhood, the recognition that all men are peers, the humblest with the most exalted, the recognition that all work is glorified."

Senate President Calvin Coolidge- from his speech "Have Faith in Massachusetts" Jan. 7, 1914

Calvin Coolidge Comments on the Path to Life Enrichment

"There are two things necessary for the enrichment of life, mentally, physically, socially and spiritually. They are very simple and are known to all men. One is hard work and the other is a determination to do right," - Calvin Coolidge


Quote provided by the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, Plymouth, Vermont
www.calvin-coolidge.org

Calvin Coolidge Comments on the Need for Self Reliance

"The people cannot look to legislation generally for success. Industry, thrift, character, are not conferred by act or resolve. Government cannot relieve from toil. It can provide no substitute for the rewards of service. It can, of course, care for the defective and recognize distinguished merit. The normal must care for themselves. Self government means self support.- Massachusetts Senate President Calvin Coolidge

QUINTESSENTIAL COOLIDGE

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 "The foundation of our independence and our government rests upon our basic religious convictions."

 

"There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of law for the virtue of man. Of course we endeavor to restrain the vicious, and furnish a fair degree of security and protection by legislation and police control, but the real reform which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, humanity, charity—these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of divine grace." -- Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge Comments on Immigration

"While not enough time has elapsed to afford a conclusive demonstration, such results as have been secured indicate that our immigration law is on the whole beneficial. It is undoubtedly a protection to the wage earners of this country. The situation should however, be carefully surveyed, in order to ascertain whether it is working a needless hardship upon our own inhabitants. If it deprives them of the comfort and society of those bound to them by close family ties, such modifications should be adopted as will afford relief, always in accordance with the principle that our Government owes its first duty to our own people and that no alien, inhabitant of another country, has any legal rights whatever under our Constitution and laws. It is only through treaty, or through residence here that such rights accrue. But we should not, however, be forgetful of the obligations of a common humanity."
"While our country numbers among its best citizens many of those of foreign birth, yet those who now enter in violation of our laws by that very act thereby place themselves in a class of undesirables. Investigation reveals that any considerable number are coming here in defiance of our immigration restrictions, it will undoubtedly create the necessity for the registration of all aliens. We ought to have no prejudice against an alien because he is an alien. The standard which we apply to our inhabitants is that of manhood, not place of birth. Restrictive immigration is to a large degree for economic purposes. It is applied in order that we may not have a larger annual increment of good people within our borders than we can weave into our economic fabric in such a way as to supply their needs without undue injury to ourselves."

Calvin Coolidge on the Need for Religion

"There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of law for the virtue of man. Of course we endeavor to restrain the vicious, and furnish a fair degree of security and protection by legislation and police control, but the real reform which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of our religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, humanity, charity—these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of divine grace." -- Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge Comments: "The best help that benevolence and philanthropy can give is that which induces everybody to help himself."

"From Coolidge’s remarks to the Federation of Jewish Philanthropic Societies of New York City, October 26, 1924: "Nothing is finer than the open hand and the generous heart that’s prompt free and unselfish giving. But modern social science knows, also, that ill directed charity is often directly responsible for encouragement of pauperism and mendicancy. The best service we can do for the needy and the unfortunate is to help them in such manner that their self respect, their ability to help themselves, shall not be injured but augmented. Nobody is necessarily out merely because he is down. But, being down, nobody gets up again without honest effort of his own. The best help that benevolence and philanthropy can give is that which induces everybody to help himself."


Credit for the above noted quote is given to WWW.Silentcal.com