“It is senseless to boast of our liberty when we find that to so shocking an extent it is merely the liberty to go ill-governed. It is time to take warning that neither the liberties we prize nor the system under which we claim them are safe while such conditions exist.
“We shall not correct admitted and grave defects if we hesitate to recognize them. We must be frank with ourselves. We ought to be our own harshest critics. We can afford to be, for in spite of everything we still have a balance of prosperity, of general welfare, of secure freedom, and of righteous purpose, that gives us assurance of leadership among the nations.
“What America needs is to hold to its ancient and well-charted course.
“Our country was conceived in the theory of local self-government. It has been dedicated by long practice to that wise and beneficent policy. It is the foundation principle of our system of liberty. It makes the largest promise to the freedom and development of the individual. Its preservation is worth all the effort and all the sacrifice that it may cost” — President Calvin Coolidge, Arlington National Cemetery, May 30, 1925.
Quotes
On Enemies of the Government
“Every government always has enemies. Our government at this moment is no exception. We have more just now than is usual, and if they are in the pay of the revolutionary authorities of Russia, as I believe to be the case, the danger is somewhat greater than in normal times simply because these enemies to-day are better financed than usual. Even so, I do not regard the menace as genuinely serious…It is right to punish overt acts, but the only way to deal with beliefs is to meet them, to expose their fallacy, to present the facts which prove them wrong. This is the American way” — Governor Calvin Coolidge, 1919.
This is why as a State Senator he would confront with law lines of propaganda that endorsed racial and class preferences. This is why as a Governor he spoke up for Americans’ rights to a law-abiding and due process government. This is why as President he pardoned Wilson’s political prisoners, opposed wiretapping and entrapment procedures and refused all attempts to “play favorites” or target enemies with the enforcement of the law. He knew such measures were an abhorrent dereliction of his duty, an abuse of his office and a perversion of justice.
The current regime in Washington, failing to respect law itself, is not merely suffering from an eroded “trust factor,” as former DOD Secretary Rumsfeld said this week, it has more than proven unworthy of the trust it has left, let alone an ounce of good faith in its honest intentions going into the future. The sanctity of the law, justly applied, demands it. The current regime, living in defiance of America’s respect for law (as it impartially binds all alike), are ideological enemies of that ideal and fail to realize that the law cuts both ways. They will not succeed in flouting that law forever.
On Luck
“There are people who complain that they do not have any luck. These are the opportunists who think that their destiny is all shaped outside themselves. They are always waiting for something to happen. Not only is nothing very good likely to happen to this class, but if some fortune seems to come it tends to turn out disastrously. They are usually ruined by success.
“Our real luck lies within ourselves. It is a question of character. It depends on whether we follow the inward light of conscience. Such men rise above the realm of temporary circumstance. They are great even in defeat.
“Napoleon following his star, seeking luck outside himself, was great only in victory. But in Egypt, at Moscow, at Waterloo, his glory departed. General Lee, sacrificing himself for what he felt was his duty, was no less great after Appomattox. Poverty, obscurity, assassination, only revealed the greatness of Lincoln. The wrath of man praised him. if we cannot entirely control our environment, we can control ourselves and our destiny. The man who is right makes his own luck” — former President Calvin Coolidge, August 29, 1930.
The Importance of the Obvious 