The Magical History Tour

To help bring you into the new year, here are some quotes from the past to help you start your year.

John Adams was known for his beliefs on free thought and right action. He was happy to share this belief with others, whether they wanted it, or not.

“Human nature itself is evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in human nature a resentment of injury, and indignation against wrong. A love of truth and a veneration of virtue. These amiable passions, are the “latent spark”… If the people are capable of understanding, seeing and feeling the differences between true and false, right and wrong, virtue and vice, to what better principle can the friends of mankind apply than to the sense of this difference?” – John Adams, the Novanglus, 1775

Benjamin Franklin was well known for giving advice about life and how to live it. His advice for the new year is.

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” – Benjamin Franklin

Alexander Hamilton was a realist, and very matter of fact in his writing, His advice to the new year is not to expect perfection from everyone.

I never expect to see a perfect work from imperfect man.
– Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 85, 1788

George Washington felt knowledge was an important for citizens to make informed choices.

Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness.
– George Washington, First Annual Message, January 8, 1790

Abraham Lincoln led the United States through its most trying time, he advises us.

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln

Harriet Tubman who led thousands of slaves to freedom, felt that dreaming and following your dreams was important.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

Noted outspoken abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglas reminds us that struggle is important to maintain freedom.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”

– Frederick Douglas

The Magical History Tour plan for the new year is to bring you more articles about history, more visits to historic sites and to continue to encourage love and respect for history and encourage education. May you all have a happy, safe and prosperous new year.