US Presidency
1925

It does not make the community virtuous. No amount of restraint, no amount of law can do that. If our political and social standards are the result of an enlightened conscience, then their perfection depends upon securing a more enlightened conscience. Thomas Shepherd was not a great moral leader because he believed in promoting education. He believed in promoting education because he was a great moral leader. Thomas Hooker and John Wise were not great spiritual lights because they declared the principles of sound government. They declared the principles of sound government because they were great spiritual lights. It is necessary to do something more than to have government treat symptoms. If we are to preserve what we already have and provide for further reformation, we must become a nation of partakers of the spirit of Shepherd and Hooker and Wise, or, as the clergy tell us, we must become partakers of the spirit of the Great Master. This way is outside of the government. It is the realm of religion.