Individuality is the aim of political liberty. By leaving to the citizen as much freedom of action and of being as comports with order and the rights of others, the institutions render him truly a freeman. He is left to pursue his means of happiness in his own manner.
Interpretation
Political liberty allows individuals the freedom to pursue their own happiness within a structured society.
In this quote, James F. Cooper emphasizes the importance of individuality and personal freedom within a political framework. He argues that a true sense of liberty is achieved when citizens are granted the freedom to act and express themselves while respecting the order and rights of others, thus allowing them to seek happiness in their own way. This perspective highlights the balance between personal freedom and societal norms, advocating for a political system that nurtures individuality.
In practice
In a speech about civil rights, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of personal liberty.
It is a misfortune that necessity has induced men to accord greater license to this formidable engine, in order to obtain liberty, than can be borne with less important objects in view; for the press, like fire, is an excellent servant, but a terrible master.
We live in a world of transgressions and selfishness, and no pictures that represent us otherwise can be true; though happily for human nature, gleamings of that pure spirit in whose likeness man has been fashioned, are to be seen, relieving its deformities, and mitigating, if not excusing its crimes.
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore.
On the human imagination, events produce the effects of time. Thus, he who has travelled far and seen much, is apt to fancy that he has lived long; and the history that most abounds in important incidents, soonest assumes the aspect of antiquity.
Magic is a state of mind. It is often portrayed as very black and gothic, and that is because certain practitioners played that up for a sense of power and prestige. That is a disservice. Magic is very colorful. Of this, I am sure.
When people are not in the moment, they're not there to know that they're not there.
By speaking, by thinking, we undertake to clarify things, and that forces us to exacerbate them, dislocate them, schematize them. Every concept is in itself an exaggeration.
I think it's relatively easy for people to accept something like telepathy or precognition or teleplasm because their willingness to believe doesn't cost them anything. It doesn't keep them awake nights. But the idea that the evil that men do lives after them is unsettling.
That's one of the greatest curses ever inflicted on the human race, memory.
It's not a coincidence that in the Scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions.
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