The brave man, inattentive to his duty, is worth little more to his country than the coward who deserts her in the hour of danger.
Andrew JacksonRead
The planter, the farmer, the mechanic, and the laborer...form the great body of the people of the United States they are the bone and sinew of the country men who love liberty and desire nothing but equal rights and equal laws.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the fundamental role of common workers in building and maintaining a free society.
Andrew Jackson highlights the essential contributions of everyday workers—such as farmers, mechanics, and laborers—in shaping the United States. He regards them as the backbone of the nation, emphasizing their commitment to liberty, equal rights, and the rule of law as foundational principles for a prosperous society.
In practice
In a speech addressing workers' rights, one could quote Jackson to emphasize the importance of labor in society.
The brave man, inattentive to his duty, is worth little more to his country than the coward who deserts her in the hour of danger.
There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness... The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way.
The great constitutional corrective in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage; and this when used with calmness and deliberation will prove strong enough.
I feel in the depths of my soul that it is the highest, most sacred, and most irreversible part of my obligation to preserve the union of these states, although it may cost me my life.
When death comes, he respects neither age nor merit. He sweeps from the earthly existence the sick and the strong, the rich and the poor, and should teach us to live to be prepared for death.
In a free government the demand for moral qualities should be made superior to that of talents.
Life's errors cry for the merciful beauty that can modulate their isolation into a harmony with the whole.
Luxury lies not in the richness of things, but in the absence of vulgarity
Our swords shall play the orators for us.
As birds' wings beat the solid air without which none could fly so words freed by the imagination affirm reality by their flight.
We call an intention good which is right in itself, but the action is good, not because it contains within it some good, but because it issues from a good intention.
I carry death in my left pocket. Sometimes I take it out and talk to it: "Hello, baby, how you doing? When you coming for me? I'll be ready.
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