Today, on this day of possibility, we stand in the shadow of a lanky, raw-boned man with little formal education who once took the stage at Old Main and told the nation that if anyone did not believe the American principles of freedom and equality, that those principles were timeless and all-inclusive, they should go rip that page out of the Declaration of Independence.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker references a historical figure who defended American principles as timeless and inclusive.
- In plain terms
- We honor someone who said freedom and equality apply to everyone.
- What can you take from it?
- Historical figures are cited to reinforce core democratic principles.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Are principles truly timeless?
- Who defines inclusion?
Another view
It relies on the audience's acceptance of that historical narrative.
More from Barack Obama
John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded.
Permalink to quote #21 How does America find its way in this new, global economy? What will our place in history be? Like so much of the American story, once again, we face a choice.…
Permalink to quote #23 We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blu…
Permalink to quote #20
Related quotes
At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom. So it was at Lexington and Con…
Lyndon JohnsonLyndon Johnson quote #3 Such things had occasionally been said by some political enthusiast in the olden time, but, for the first time in the history of the world, the representatives…
Robert G. IngersollRobert G. Ingersoll quote #7 The highest glory of the American Revolution was this, said John Quincy Adams, it connected in one indistinguishable bond the principles of civil government an…
John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams quote #21