The whole fabric of southern society must be changed, and never can it be done if this opportunity is lost. Without this, this government can never be, as it never has been, a true republic.
Thaddeus StevensRead
I answer, because I live among men and not among angels.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of human interaction and the necessity of engaging with the complexities of human society.
Thaddeus Stevens' quote highlights the reality of living in a human world full of imperfections rather than an idealized space of perfection, symbolized by angels. It suggests that our decisions and actions are motivated by the complexities, struggles, and responsibilities we have toward one another as social beings.
In practice
In a speech about social justice, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of addressing the needs of people in society.
The whole fabric of southern society must be changed, and never can it be done if this opportunity is lost. Without this, this government can never be, as it never has been, a true republic.
I can never acknowledge the right of slavery. I will bow down to no deity however worshipped by professing Christians - however dignified by the name of the Goddess of Liberty, whose footstool is the crushed necks of the groaning millions, and who rejoices in the resoundings of the tyrant's lash, and the cries of his tortured victims.
No government can be free that does not allow all its citizens to participate in the formation and execution of her laws.
The freedom of a government does not depend on the quality of its laws, but upon the power that has the right to create them.
I pray every night, sometimes long prayers about a lot of things and a lot of people, but I don't talk about it or brag about it because that's between God and me, and I'm no better than anybody else in God's sight.
Faith is not opposed to reason, but it is sometimes opposed to feelings and appearances.
In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.
Houses, like people, are apt to become rather eccentric if left too much on their own; this house was the architectural equivalent of an old gentleman in a worn dressing-gown and torn slippers, who got up and went to bed at odd times of day, and who kept up a continual conversation with friends no one else could see.
Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.
Meaning equals emotion and emotion equals life. Choose consciously and wisely.
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