Independence Day speech (1828)
Context: Where men then are free to consult experience they will correct their practice, and make changes for the better. It follows, therefore, that the more free men are, the more changes they will make. In the beginning, possibly, for the worse; but most certainly in time for the better; until their knowledge enlarging by observation, and their judgment strengthening by exercise, they will find themselves in the straight, broad, fair road of improvement. Out of change, therefore, springs improvement; and the people who shall have imagined a peaceable mode of changing their institutions, hold a surety for their melioration. This surety is worth all other excellences. Better were the prospects of a people under the influence of the worst government who should hold the power of changing it, that those of a people under the best who should hold no such power. Here, then is the great beauty of American government.
“Conservatism is the policy of making no changes and consulting your grandmother when in doubt.”
Attributed by Raymond B. Fosdick in Report of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, 1963, p. 49 http://books.google.com/books?id=EqE8AAAAIAAJ&q=%22consulting+your+grandmother+when+in+doubt%22&dq=%22consulting+your+grandmother+when+in+doubt%22&hl=en&ei=fJ-HTJ33MYL58AaTqZyOAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAg
1910s
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Woodrow Wilson 156
American politician, 28th president of the United States (i… 1856–1924Related quotes
Changes
Song lyrics, Hunky Dory (1971)
Context: I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence.
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same.
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations.
They're quite aware of what they're going through.
“… when your heart changes, you change, and you have to make new plans.”
Source: Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World
“When you doubt your power, you give power to your doubt.”
Source: If: A Father's Advice to His Son
“Basis for Negotiations” p. 122
Short fiction, Who Can Replace a Man? (1965)