No man not inspired can make a good speech without preparation.
Daniel WebsterRead
Let us not forget that the cultivation of the earth is the most important labor of man. When tillage begins, other arts will follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of civilization.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the essential role of farming in the development of human society and civilization.
Daniel Webster highlights the fundamental importance of agriculture, suggesting that the act of cultivating the land is the cornerstone of human labor. He argues that it is through farming that other arts and civilizations can develop, thereby elevating the role of farmers as the true founders of society.
In practice
In a speech at an agricultural conference, one might reference this quote to emphasize the importance of farming in society.
No man not inspired can make a good speech without preparation.
We have been taught to regard a representative of the people as a sentinel on the watch-tower of liberty.
I was born an American; I will live an American; I shall die an American.
Man is a special being, and if left to himself, in an isolated condition, would be one of the weakest creatures; but associated with his kind, he works wonders.
Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution of your country and the government established under it. Leave evils which exist in some parts of the country, but which are beyond your control, to the all-wise direction of an over-ruling Providence. Perform those duties which are present, plain and positive. Respect the laws of your country.
I regard it (the Constitution) as the work of the purest patriots and wisest statesman that ever existed, aided by the smiles of a benign Providence; it almost appears a "Divine interposition in our behalf... the hand that destroys our Constitution rends our Union asunder forever.
America was founded by people who believe that God was their rock of safety. I recognize we must be cautious in claiming that God is on our side, but I think it's all right to keep asking if we're on His side.
As soon as he ceased to be mad he became merely stupid. There are maladies we must not seek to cure because they alone protect us from others that are more serious.
God expects but one thing of you, and that is that you should come out of yourself in so far as you are a created being made and let God be God in you.
It seems to me that it was well said by Madama Serenissima, and insisted on by your reverence, that the Holy Scripture cannot err, and that the decrees therein contained are absolutely true and inviolable. But I should have in your place added that, though Scripture cannot err, its expounders and interpreters are liable to err in many ways; and one error in particular would be most grave and most frequent, if we always stopped short at the literal signification of the words.
This is his first punishment, that by the verdict of his own heart no guilty man is acquitted.
The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creatures that cannot.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.