"If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with
inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just power from
the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made
beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth and their
soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not
forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of
the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that
direction cannot lay claim to progress. They are reactionary."
- Calvin Coolidge, 5 July, 1926
A Tip of the Toque to Mike at South Texian.
