” ‘There is no right to strike against the public safety by any body, any time, any where’…I felt at the time that the speeches I made and the statements I issued had a clearness of thought and revealed a power I had not before been able to express, which confirmed my belief that, when a duty comes to us, with it a power comes to enable us to perform it. I was not thinking so much of the Governorship, which I already had, as of the grave danger to the country if the voters did not decide correctly. My faith that the people would respond to the truth was justified.
“The requirements of the situation as it developed seem clear and plain now, and easy to decide, but as they arose they were very complicated and involved in many immaterial issues. The right thing to do never requires any subterfuges, it is always simple and direct. That is the reason that intrigue usually falls of its own weight” — Calvin Coolidge, The Autobiography, pp.132, 133.
“Fear is not only contagious, but reaches our representatives. It affects the neighbors and has its reaction on the officeholders…Something is the matter with the country, and they will all feel an irresistible temptation to try to provide a remedy. That would be fine if they had any such power. But only the people themselves have the power to work out of their difficulties, which they can best do without legislative interference.
“The trouble is that efforts will be made to save a situation by legislation when no legislation can save it…When the country needs the courage and confidence that relief from high taxes would give, increasing appropriations only add to the discouragement. What a refreshing spectacle it would be if a little band of officeholders would announce they were ready to risk defeat by resisting these unsound proposals! The whole country would rally to their support” — December 26, 1930
Quotes
On the Tyranny of Government Flouting the Law
Calvin Coolidge, May 9, 1924
“Ours, as you know, is a government of limited powers. The Constitution confers the authority for certain actions upon the President and the Congress, and specifically prohibits them from taking other actions. This is done to protect the rights and liberties of the people. The Government is limited, on the people are absolute. Whenever the legislative or executive power undertakes to overstep the bounds of its limitations, any person who is injured may resort to the courts for protection and remedy. We do not submit the precious rights of the people to the hazard of a prejudiced and irresponsible political determination, but preserve and protect them by an independent and impartial judicial determination. We do not expose the rights of the weak to the danger of being overcome in the public forum by public uproar, but protect them in the sanctity of the courtroom, where the still, small voice will not fail to be heard. Any attempt to change this method of procedure is an attempt to put the people again in jeopardy of the impositions and the tyrannies from which the first Continental Congress sought to deliver them. The only position that Americans can take is that they are against all despotism whether it emanate from a monarch, from a parliament, or from a mob” — President Coolidge, Philadelphia, September 25, 1924.
On Reasons for Optimism
“However powerful the forces of evil may appear, somewhere there are more powerful forces of righteousness” — Calvin Coolidge, April 22, 1918
“It is never the part of wisdom to minimize the power of evil, but it is far less the part of wisdom to forget the power of good…The important truth remains that the forces of good, now as always, surpass the forces of evil” — April 13, 1923
“The first and most important [human motive], to which all else is subordinate, is that of righteousness. There is that in mankind, stronger than all else, which requires them to do right” — May 30, 1923
“It is necessary not only to have faith, but to make sacrifices for our faith. The spiritual forces of the world make all its final determinations” — December 6, 1923
“Something in all human beings makes them want to do the right thing. Not that this desire always prevails; oftentimes it is overcome and they turn towards evil. But some power is constantly calling them back. Ever there comes a resistance to wrongdoing. When bad conditions begun to accumulate, when the forces of darkness become prevalent, always they are ultimately doomed to fail, as the better angels of human nature are roused to resistance” — September 21, 1924
“It seems as though good influences had always been coming into my life. Perhaps I have been more fortunate in that respect than others. But while I am not disposed to minimuze the amount of evil in the world I am convinced that the good predominates and that it is constantly all about us, ready for our service if only we will accept it” — The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge, 1929, p.54-55.
“The only way I know to drive out evil from the country is by the constructive method of filling it with good. The country is better off tranquilly considering its blessings and merits, and earnestly striving to secure more of them, than it would be in nursing hostile bitterness about its deficiencies and faults” — The Autobiography, p.186.
The Importance of the Obvious 