Out of our first century of national life we evolved the ethical principle that it was not right or just that an honest and industrious man should live and die in misery. He was entitled to some degree of sympathy and security. Our conscience declared against the honest workman's becoming a pauper, but our eyes told us that he very often did.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the moral obligation to support the diligent and honest workers in society who often face hardships despite their efforts.
Frances Perkins articulates a fundamental ethical principle that emerged in the context of national life, advocating for the rights of honest and hardworking individuals who struggle with poverty. She reflects on the conflict between societal conscience, which demands sympathy and security for these workers, and the harsh realities that often lead them to live in misery. This quote calls for a societal commitment to ensure that honesty and hard work are rewarded with dignity and support, rather than neglect.
In practice
Use this quote in a speech about labor rights and the importance of supporting workers.
Our idea of what constitutes social good has advanced with the procession of the ages, from those desperate times when just to keep body and soul together was an achievement, to the great present when "good" includes an agreeable, stable civilization accessible to all, the opportunity of each to develop his particular genius and the privilege of mutual usefulness.
The door might not be opened to a woman again for a long, long time, and I had a kind of duty to other women to walk in and sit down on the chair that was offered, and so establish the right of others long hence and far distant in geography to sit in the high seats.
The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life.
Nothing is built on stone; all is built on sand, but we must build as if the sand were stone.
Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn't change people's habits. It just kept them inside the house.
Science is based on reproducibility and manufactured objectivity. As strong as that makes its ability to generate claims about matter and energy, it also makes scientific knowledge inapplicable to the existential, visceral nature of human life, which is unique and subjective and unpredictable.
It is not rebellion itself which is noble but the demands it makes upon us.
Here in Britain, black people are disproportionately targeted, arrested and imprisoned for drug offences, while organised and violent crime are granted a massive source of revenue.
What is scary to me is silly to somebody else. CG isn't scary to me. It's like comedy - comedy and horror are quite similar, in that there'll always be somebody who'll say, 'I don't think that was funny.' And it's the same with things that are meant to be scary.
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