The first lesson in civics is that efficient government begins at home.
Charles Evans HughesRead
Our institutions were not devised to bring about uniformity of opinion; if they had we might well abandon hope. It is important to remember, as has well been said, 'the essential characteristic of true liberty is that under its shelter many different types of life and character and opinion and belief can develop unmolested and unobstructed.'
Interpretation
True liberty allows for diverse opinions and ways of life without interference.
In this quote, Charles Evans Hughes emphasizes the importance of diversity in thought and belief as a core element of true liberty. Rather than stifling differing opinions, institutions should allow individuals the freedom to express themselves and develop their unique perspectives, which is essential for a vibrant and functioning society.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of freedom of expression.
The first lesson in civics is that efficient government begins at home.
Dissents are appeals to the brooding spirit of the law, to the intelligence of another day.
While democracy must have its organizations and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty.
The peril of this Nation is not in any foreign foe! We, the people, are its power, its peril, and its hope.
Every young man should aim at independence and should prepare himself for a vocation; above all, he should so manage his life that the steps of his progress are taken without improper aids; that he calls no one master, that he does not win or deserve the reputation of being a tool of others, and that if called to public service he may assume its duties with the satisfaction of knowing that he is free to rise to the height of his opportunity.
It is the essence of the institutions of liberty that it be recognized that guilt is personal and cannot be attributed to the holding of opinions or to mere intent in the absence of overt acts.
There was a little corner of his mind that was still his own, and light came through it, as though a chink in the dark: light out of the past. It was actually pleasant, I think, to hear a kindly voice agin, bringing up memories of wind, and trees, and sun on the grass, and such forgotten things.
All things are nourished together without their injuring one another. The courses of the seasons, and of the sun and moon, are pursued without any collision among them. The smaller energies are like river currents; the greater energies are seen in mighty transformations. It is this which makes heaven and earth so great.
Your face is a book, where men may read strange matters.
Your world is a living expression of how you are using and have used your mind.
To those who have no personal experience of this revolutionary aspect of Christian truth, but who see only the outer crust of dead, human conservatism that tends to form around the Church the way barnacles gather on the hull of a ship, all this talk about dynamism sounds foolish.
I'm not a universalist, and the way I talk about final loss is this: People worship idols - money, whatever. Their humanness gets reshaped around the idol - you become like what you worship. That's one of the basic spiritual laws.
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