We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unali...enable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
There is something ridiculous and even quite indecent in an individual claiming to be happy. Still more a people or a nation makin...g such a claim. The pursuit of happiness ... is without any question the most fatuous which could possibly be undertaken. This lamentable phrase "the pursuit of happiness" is responsible for a good part of the ills and miseries of the modern world.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
We must bear in mind the distinction between fame and honor. A virtuous person is an honorable person, a person who ought to be ho...nored by the community in which he or she lives. But the virtuous person does not seek honor, being secure in his or her own self-respect. Lack of honor does not in any way detract from the efficacy of moral virtue as an indispensable operative means in the pursuit of happiness.... Those totally lacking in virtue may achieve fame as readily as, perhaps even more easily than those who are virtuous. Fame belongs to the great, the outstanding, the exceptional, without regard to virtue or vice. Infamy is fame no less than good repute. The great scoundrel can be as famous as the great hero; there can be famous villains as well as famous saints. Existing in the reputation a person has regardless of his or her accomplishments, fame does not tarnish as honor does when it is unmerited.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation th...ey derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The pursuit of happiness, which American citizens are obliged to undertake, tends to involve them in trying to perpetuate the mood...s, tastes and aptitudes of youth.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man wil...l not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
All of us recognize the great benefits to our own nation and to the world of a strong and progressive Iran. Your support of the Ca...mp David accords and your encouragement of the leaders who are or may be involved in consummating the peace effort would be very valuable.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Modern theories of mental dysfunction led to the elimination of witches from our serious ontology. The concepts of folk psychology...--belief, desire, fear, sensation, pain, joy, and so on--await a similar fate, according to the view at issue. And when neuroscience has matured to the point where the poverty of our current conceptions is apparent to everyone, and the superiority of the new framework is established, we shall then be able to set about reconceiving our internal states and activities, within a truly adequate conceptual framework at last.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The question is this--Is man an ape or an angel? My Lord, I am on the side of the angels. I repudiate with indignation and abhorre...nce the contrary view, which is I believe, foreign to the conscience of humanity.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
...I cannot help being astonished at the furious and ungoverned execration which all reference to the possibility of a fusion of t...he races draws down upon those who suggest it, because nobody pretends to deny that, throughout the South, a large proportion of the population is the offspring of white men and colored women.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »