Success Quote by Calvin Coolidge

Coolidge wraps a moral claim in the cool, hard casing of market logic: serve others or die. Coming from a president synonymous with small-government restraint and 1920s business confidence, the line reads like a benediction for capitalism that also doubles as a warning to it. The rhetoric is almost Puritan in its cadence - “ministers,” “great need,” “great service” - casting enterprise as a civic calling rather than a private indulgence. That religious register matters: it tries to make profit feel earned, even virtuous, by tethering it to usefulness.

The subtext is strategic. Coolidge isn’t asking corporations to be charitable; he’s insisting that self-interest only survives when it masquerades as public interest. “Not for itself, but for others” sounds altruistic, yet the closing clause snaps back to the balance sheet: if you fail at service, you “cease to be profitable.” The moral premise is enforced by an economic consequence. In other words, the market becomes the judge of social worth.

Context sharpens the edge. The 1920s saw explosive growth, advertising-driven consumer culture, and widening gaps in wealth - conditions that invited skepticism about whether business served anyone beyond shareholders. Coolidge’s formulation attempts to launder the era’s exuberance through the language of obligation. It’s also a preemptive defense against regulation: if the market naturally punishes enterprises that don’t “perform some great service,” then government oversight looks unnecessary.

The quote works because it fuses two American faiths - service and success - and quietly claims they’re the same thing. That fusion is persuasive, and revealing.