|
"About the Declaration [of
Independence] there is a finality that is exceedingly
restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great
deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new
experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of
that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their
conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can
not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created
equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights,
that is final. If governments derive their just powers from
the
|
|
consent of the governed,
that is final. No advance, no progress can be made
beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or
their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed
historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when
there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the
people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not
lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their
ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the
Revolutionary fathers."
- Calvin Coolidge
|
