Great Wisdom from Great Men on the 4th

First off, Happy Birthday to America and my utmost love, respect, and prayers to all the troops serving at home and abroad to keep us able to celebrate national holidays like this in the freedom we sometimes take for granted. For an appetizer, courtesy of Powerline, here are some sage words from President Abraham Lincoln, and more from Calvin Coolidge.

Calvin Coolidge

About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers 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 or 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 can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers.

For the main course, I recommend this two part essay from the timeless Bill Whittle, called "Trinity" (links here and here). No matter how many times I read this, just like the parting of the T at a Tennessee Volunteer football game, it still gives me goose bumps, and it probably always will.

And as a tasty topping for this Fourth of July feast of wisdom, read this wonderful testimony from an adopted American, Kim DuToit, of how dearly he loves this country. This love is something native born American citizens take for granted, but we should not. The overuse of this phrase by politicians aside, on this Fourth of July and many others to come, may God Bless the United States of America.