Liberty is the proper end and object of authority, and cannot subsist without it; and it is liberty to that which is good, just, and honest.
Interpretation
Liberty is the ultimate goal of authority, and it can only exist alongside it when it serves just and honest purposes.
In this quote, John Winthrop articulates the relationship between liberty and authority, suggesting that genuine freedom is rooted in the presence of a rightful authority that upholds moral values. It emphasizes that liberty should not be an abstract concept but should be directed towards ensuring what is good, just, and honest in society, highlighting the moral responsibilities that come with freedom.
In practice
In a speech advocating for civil liberties, one might quote this to emphasize the moral foundations of freedom.
We must delight in each other, make others conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our community as members of the same body.
I like the stars. It's the illusion of permanence, I think. I mean, they're always flaring up and caving in and going out. But from here, I can pretend... I can pretend that things last.
In its Greek origins, historia meant inquiry, and from Thucydides onwards, the past has been studied to understand its connections with the present.
Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old musty cheese that we are.
The crowning experience of all, for the homecoming man, is the wonderful feeling that, after all he has suffered, there is nothing he need fear anymore—except his God.
Suicide is not abominable because God prohibits it; God prohibits it because it is abominable.
My view is different from this, only to the extent that if a decision is taken, by the parents and doctors, that it is better that a baby should die, I believe it should be possible to carry out that decision, not only by withholding or withdrawing life-support - which can lead to the baby dying slowly from dehydration or from an infection - but also by taking active steps to end the baby's life swiftly and humanely.
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