On July 2, 1776 . . .

. . . the Thirteen Colonies voted to separate from Great Britain. A hush fell over the room. The late afternoon sun fired a brass candlestick on the green felt tablecloth, a pair of spectacles, the silver knob of a walking stick. Men gazed out the window, some with tears in their eyes. A few prayed. Their chairman, John Hancock, broke the silence: "Gentlemen, the price on my head has just doubled!"

A wry chuckle followed, then Sam Adams rose: "We have this day restored the sovereign, to Whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven and . . . from the rising to the setting of the sun, may His Kingdom come!"

(Marshall & Manuel, The Light & the Glory, 309)

Lessons from Valley Forge

Modern historians have said that the greatest miracle of Valley Forge was that the army held together. Despite the lack of food and total absence of pay, despite the illness which was taking more than a dozen lives a day, despite the utter hopelessness of their situation, the men stayed. And one smuggled the following in to the Philadelphia paper:

"Our attention is now drawn to one point: the enemy grows weaker every day, and we are growing stronger. Our work is almost done, and with the blessing of heaven, and the valor of our worthy General, we shall soon drive these plunderers out of our country!"

Sayings of Abraham Lincoln

The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.

It is true that you can fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time.

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

God did not place good and evil before man, telling him to make his choice. On the contrary, he did tell him there was one tree of the fruit of which he should not eat, upon pain of certain death.