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Quote of the Day: Calvin Coolidge on Memorial Day
Our country does not want war, it wants peace. It has not decreed this memorial season as an honor to war, with its terrible waste and attendant train of suffering and hardship which reaches onward into the years of peace. Yet war is not the worst of evils, and these days have been set apart to do honor to all those, now gone, who made the cause of America their supreme choice. Some fell with the word of Patrick Henry, “Give me liberty, or give me death,” almost ringing in their ears. Some heard that word across the intervening generations and were still obedient to its call. It is to the spirit of those men, exhibited in all our wars, to the spirit that places the devotion to freedom and truth above the devotion to life, that the nation pays its ever enduring mark of reverence and respect.
It is not that principle that leads to conflict but to tranquillity. It is not that principle which is the cause of war but the only foundation for an enduring peace. There can be no peace with the forces of evil. Peace comes only through the establishment of the supremacy of the forces of good. That way lies only through sacrifice. It was that the people of our country might live in a knowledge of the truth that these, our countrymen, are dead. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
This spirit is not dead, it is the most vital thing in America. It did not flow from any act of government. It is the spirit of the people themselves. It justifies faith in them and faith in their institutions. Remembering all that it has accomplished from the day of the Puritan and Cavalier to the day of the last, least immigrant, who lives by it no less than they, who shall dare to doubt it, who shall dare to challenge it, who shall venture to rouse it into action? Those who have scoffed at it from the day of the Stuarts and the Bourbons to the day of the Hapsburgs and the Hohenzollerns have seen it rise and prevail over them. Calm, peaceful, puissant, it remains, conscious of its authority, “slow to anger, plenteous in mercy,” seeking not to injure but to serve, the safeguard of the republic, still the guarantee of a broader freedom, the supreme moral power of the world. It is in that spirit that we place our trust. It is to that spirit again, with this returning year, we solemnly pledge the devotion of all that we have and are.
— President Calvin Coolidge, “The Destiny of America,” delivered on Memorial Day, 1923.
Published in General
This makes me proud to be a Coolidge level member here at Ricochet.
His speeches were so noteworthy, in spite of the name he was given –Silent Cal. His words still resonate.
That speech used up about 20% of his annual allowance.
I worry about this. Too many now embrace “the seven deadly sins” instead of the cardinal virtues. Greed, envy, sloth, gluttony, lust, wrath, and pride prevail. The pride seen today manifests itself in a dangerous form of self-esteem-boosting moral preening.
Society misses the four cardinal virtues required of statesmen and citizens alike, prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. As society turns toward secularism, you see less of the theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity. It is one thing to lack faith in the unseen, but many spurn religion for purely selfish reasons to pursue vices. They turn that into a virtue by turning God and faith into vices to be mocked and banned.
Under such conditions, finding those willing to sacrifice will become harder, yet they still exist in the military, in police and fire departments, and other public services. Most midweeks at the fort, one can see the culmination of basic training as newly minted soldiers and their proud families gather to socialize before graduation.
We honor those on Memorial Day who made the ultimate sacrifice. Our country will not long survive without such great men.