Coolidge's 'law of service'

Coolidge’s home in Northampton, Mass., from 1906-1930

Calvin Coolidge (1972-1933; president 1923-1929) states his philosophy;

‘T]here is a standard of righteousness that might does not make right, that the end does not justify the means, and that expediency as a working principle is bound to fail. The only hope of perfecting human relationships is in accordance with the law of service under which men are not so solicitous about what they shall get as they are about what they shall give. Yet people are entitled to the rewards of their industry. What they earn is theirs, no matter how small or how great. But the possession of property carries the obligation to use it in a larger service.…’’

The Coolidge family homestead, in Plymouth Notch, Vt.