Public Building Inscriptions

[de officiis]

So when the whole thing finally tumbles down and the next millennium's generation picks through the rubble, what words carved in stone or cast in iron will they find that inspired their ancestors? Feel free to add your favorites to the list...

Unite States Capitol

The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.
— Theodore Roosevelt

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.
— Thomas Jefferson

He that invents a machine augments the power of a man and the well being of mankind.
— Henry Ward Beecher

Labor is discovered to be the grand conqueror enriching and building up nations more surely than the proudest battles.
— William Ellery Channing

We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind.
— Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Whenever a free man is in chains we are threatened also. Whoever is fighting for liberty is defending America.
— William Allen White

Freedom of thought and the right of private judgment in matters of conscience direct their course to this happy country.
— Samuel Adams

We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization.
— Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.
— Louis D. Brandeis

Let us build broad and wide these foundations. Let them abut only on the everlasting seas.
— Ignatius Donnelly

Without Freedom of Thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such Thing as publick Liberty, without Freedom of Speech.
— Benjamin Franklin

When tillage begins other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization.
— Daniel Webster

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience.
— Patrick Henry

Our government conceived in freedom and purchased with blood can be preserved only by constant vigilance.
— William Jennings Bryan

Whenever a people or an institution forget its hard beginnings, it is beginning to decay.
— Carl Sandburg

Man is not made for the State but the State for man and it derives its just powers only from the consent of the governed.
— Thomas Jefferson

This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, has a just claim to your confidence and support.
— George Washington

We have built no temple but the Capitol. We consult no common oracle but the Constitution.
— Rufus Choate

Here, sir, the people govern.
— Alexander Hamilton

You are the rulers and the ruled.
— Adlai E. Stevenson

Liberty and union, one and inseparable.
— Daniel Webster

One country, one Constitution, one destiny.
— Daniel Webster

A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful Land, traversing all the seas with the rich production of their Industry.
— Thomas Jefferson

Americans are westward pilgrims, who are carrying along with them that great mass of arts, science, vigour and industry.
— Hector St. John de Crevecoeur

Go west, young man, and grow up with the country.
— Horace Greeley

To venture into the wilderness, one must see it, not as it is, but as it will be.
— Carl Becker

THE SENATE IS THE LIVING SYMBOL OF OUR UNION OF STATES

We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
— Preamble of the Constitution of the United States

In God we trust

Let us develope the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests and see whether we also in our day and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered.
— Daniel Webster

Union, Justice, Tolerance, Liberty, Peace.

Annuit coeptis (God has favored our undertakings)

Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.
— Psalm 16:1

Novus ordo seclorum (A new order of the ages is born)

Supreme Court of the United States

EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW

JUSTICE THE GUARDIAN OF LIBERTY

The Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Sir Francis Bacon, De Hoeresibus

E PLURIBUS UNUM (One From Many)
Horace, Epistle ii, 212.

THE INQUIRY, KNOWLEDGE, AND BELIEF OF TRUTH IS THE SOVEREIGN GOOD OF HUMAN NATURE.
Bacon, Essays, "Of Truth"

AS ONE LAMP LIGHTS ANOTHER, NOR GROWS LESS, SO NOBLENESS ENKINDLETH NOBLENESS.
Lowell, Yussouf

ONE GOD, ONE LAW, ONE ELEMENT, AND ONE FAR-OFF DIVINE EVENT, TO WHICH THE WHOLE CREATION MOVES
Tennyson, In Memoriam

WE TASTE THE SPICES OF ARABIA YET NEVER FEEL THE SCORCHING SUN WHICH BRINGS THEM FORTH.
Anon. (Dudley North, East India Trade)

WHAT DOTH THE LORD REQUIRE OF THEE, BUT TO DO JUSTLY, AND TO LOVE MERCY, AND TO WALK HUMBLY WITH THY GOD?
Holy Bible, Micah 6:8

THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD; AND THE FIRMAMENT SHEWETH HIS HANDIWORK.
Holy Bible, Psalms 19:1

OF LAW THERE CAN BE NO LESS ACKNOWLEDGED THAN THAT HER VOICE IS THE HARMONY OF THE WORLD.
Richard Hooker

HITHER, AS TO THEIR FOUNTAIN, OTHER STARS REPAIRING, IN THEIR GOLDEN URNS DRAW LIGHT.
Milton, Paradise Lost, vii, 364

GIVE INSTRUCTION UNTO THOSE WHO CANNOT PROCURE IT FOR THEMSELVES.
Confucius, Book XIII, Sec. 9

IN TENEBRIS LUX (In darkness light)

LIBER DELECTATIO ANIMAE (Books, the delight of the soul)

EFFICIUNT CLARUM STUDIO (They make it clear by study)

DULCE ANTE OMNIA MUSAE (The Muses, above all things, delightful)

THE POETS, WHO ON EARTH HAVE MADE US HEIRS OF TRUTH AND PURE DELIGHT BY HEAVENLY LAYS
Wordsworth

ONE EQUAL TEMPER OF HEROIC HEARTS, MADE WEAK BY TIME AND FATE, BUT STRONG IN WILL TO STRIVE, TO SEEK, TO FIND, AND NOT TO YIELD
Tennyson, Ulysses

A GLORIOUS COMPANY, THE FLOWER OF MEN, TO SERVE AS MODEL FOR THE MIGHTY WORLD, AND BE THE FAIR BEGINNING OF A TIME
Tennyson, Idylls of the King

TO THE SOULS OF FIRE, I, PALLAS ATHENA, GIVE MORE FIRE, AND TO THOSE WHO ARE MANFUL, A MIGHT MORE THAN A MAN'S.
Charles Kingsley, The Heroes: Perseus

ANCIENT OF DAYS! AUGUST ATHENA! WHERE, WHERE ARE THY MEN OF MIGHT, THY GRAND IN SOUL? GONE GLIMMERING THROUGH THE DREAM OF THINGS THAT WERE
Byron, Childe Harold

FINIS CORONAT OPUS (The end crowns the work)

GLORIA VIRTUTIS UMBRA (Glory the shadow of virtue)
Cicero: Tusc. Disputationum, i. 45

ENSE PETIT PLACIDAM SUB LIBERATE QUIETUM (Peace under Liberty)

ANIMUS OPIBUSQUE PARATI (Prepared in mind and resources)
Virgil, Aeneid, ii, 799

DUM SPIRO SPERO (While I breathe, I hope)

COURAGE, EFFORT, EXCELLENCE, EXCELSIOR

CONSTITUTION! WISDOM. JUSTICE. MODERATION.

EXCELSIOR (Higher)

LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCE

QUI TRANSTULIT SUSTINET (Who transplanted sustains)

HOPE

FREEDOM AND UNITY

HERE WE REST

AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE

REGNANT POPULI (The people rule)

MERCY! JUSTICE!

IN GOD WE TRUST

SI QUAERIS PENINSULAM AMOENAM, CIRCUMSPICE
(If thou seekest a beautiful peninsula, behold it here)

TUEBOR (I will defend)

ESSE QUAM VIDERI (To be, rather than to seem)
Sallusst CONSTITUTION

UNION. JUSTICE. CONFIDENCE.

JUSTITIA OMNIBUS (Justice for all)

OUR LIBERTIES WE PRIZE, AND OUR RIGHTS WE WILL MAINTAIN

SCUTO BONAE VOLUNTATIS TUAE CORONASTI NOS (Thy good will is our shield)

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS (Thus ever to tyrants)

VIRTUE, LIBERTY, AND INDEPENDENCE

EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW

INDUSTRY

FORWARD! E PLURIBUS UNUM (From one, many)

ALL FOR OUR COUNTRY

SALUS POPULI SUPREMA LEX ESTO (Let the safety of people be the supreme law)
Cicero, The Twelve Tables

UNITED WE STAND; DIVIDED WE FALL
Morris

STATE SOVEREIGNTY. NATIONAL UNION.

EQUAL RIGHTS

ESTO PERPETUA (Let it endure forever).

DITAT DEUS (God enriches)

LIBERTY AND UNION, NOW AND FOREVER, ONE AND INSEPARABLE!
Webster, Second Speech on Foot's Resolution, January 26, 1830

CRESCIT EUNDO (Ever stronger and stronger)
Virgil, Aeneid

NIL SINE NUMINE (Nothing without God)

MONTANI SEMPER LIBERI (Mountaineers are always freemen)

LIBERTY AND PROSPERITY

THE UNION

AD ASTRA PER ASPERA (To the stars through difficulties)
Seneca

DIRIGO (I direct)

COMES THE BLIND FURY WITH THE ABHORRED SHEARS
AND SLITS THE THIN-SPUN LIFE
Milton, Lycidas, 75

THE WEB OF LIFE IS OF A MINGLED YARN, GOOD AND ILL TOGETHER
Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, Act iv., Sc. 2

FOR A WEB BEGUN GOD SENDS THREAD
Old Proverb

THIS IS THE STATE OF MAN: TO-DAY HE PUTS FORTH THE TENDER LEAVES OF HOPE. TO-MORROW BLOSSOMS AND BEARS HIS BLUSHING HONORS THICK UPON HIM. THE THIRD DAY COMES A FROST, AND NIPS HIS ROOT, AND THEN HE FALLS.
Act iii, Scene 2

SCIENCE IS ORGANIZED KNOWLEDGE
Herbert Spencer, Essays, "The Genesis of Science," Vol. ii, 1.

BEAUTY IS TRUTH, TRUTH BEAUTY
Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn

TOO LOW THEY BUILD WHO BUILD BENEATH THE STARS
Edward Young, Night Thoughts, "Night," viii, 215

THERE IS BUT ONE TEMPLE IN THE UNIVERSE AND THAT IS THE BODY OF MAN
Novalis, Philosophy and Physics

BENEATH THE RULE OF MEN ENTIRELY GREAT, THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD
Bulwer Lytton, Richelieu: Act i.i., Sc. 2

MAN RAISES, BUT TIME WEIGHS
Modern Greek Proverb

THE NOBLEST MOTIVE IS THE PUBLIC GOOD
Virgil

BEHOLDING THE BRIGHT COUNTENANCE OF TRUTH, IN THE QUIET AND STILL AIR OF DELIGHTFUL STUDIES.
Milton, Introduction to Church Government

THE TRUE UNIVERSITY OF THESE DAYS IS A COLLECTION OF BOOKS
Carlyle, On Heroes and Hero-Worship, "The Hero as a Man of Letters."

NATURE IS THE ART OF GOD
Sir Thomas Browne

THERE IS NO WORK OF GENIUS WHICH HAS NOT BEEN THE DELIGHT OF MANKIND
Lowell, Among My Books

IT IS THE MIND THAT MAKES THE MAN, AND OUR VIGOR IS IN OUR IMMORTAL SOUL
Ovid

THEY ARE NEVER ALONE THAT ARE ACCOMPANIED WITH NOBLE THOUGHTS
Sir Philip Sidney, Arcadi

MAN IS ONE WORLD AND HATH ANOTHER TO ATTEND HIM
Herbert, The Temple

TONGUES IN TREES, BOOKS IN THE RUNNING BROOKS, SERMONS IN STONES,
AND GOOD IN EVERYTHING
Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act ii, Scene 1

THE TRUE SHEKINAH IS MAN
Sir John Chrysostom

ONLY THE ACTIONS OF THE JUST SMELL SWEET AND BLOSSOM IN THE DUST
Shirley, Contention of Ajax and Ulysses, Scene 3.

A LITTLE LEARNING IS A DANGEROUS THING; DRINK DEEP OR TASTE NOT OF THE PIERIAN SPRING.
Pope, Essay on Criticism, Pt. ii, 215

LEARNING IS BUT AN ADJUNCT TO OURSELF
Shakespeare, Love's Labor Lost, Act iv., Scene 3

STUDIES PERFECT NATURE AND ARE PERFECTED BY EXPERIENCE
Bacon, Essays, "Of Studies"

DREAMS, BOOKS, ARE EACH A WORLD; BOOKS WE KNOW, ARE A SUBSTANTIAL WORLD, BOTH PURE AND GOOD
Wordsworth, Personal Talk, Stanza iii

THE FAULT IS NOT IN OUR STARS BUT IN OURSELVES, THAT WE ARE UNDERLINGS
Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2

THE UNIVERSAL CAUSE ACTS TO ONE END, BUT ACTS BY VARIOUS LAWS
Pope, Essay on Man, Epistle iii, 1

VAIN, VERY VAIN, THE WEARY SEARCH TO FIND THAT BLISS WHICH ONLY CENTRES IN THE MIND
Goldsmith, The Traveller, 423

THE FIRST CREATURE OF GOD WAS THE LIGHT OF SENSE; THE LAST WAS THE LIGHT OF REASON
Bacon, Essays, "Of Truth"

THE LIGHT SHINETH IN DARKNESS, AND THE DARKNESS COMPREHENDETH NOT
Holy Bible, John, 1:5

ALL ARE BUT PARTS OF ONE STUPENDOUS WHOLE, WHOSE BODY NATURE IS, AND GOD THE SOUL
Pope, Essay on Man, "Epistle" i, 267

IN NATURE ALL IS USEFUL, ALL IS BEAUTIFUL
Emerson, Essays, "Art"

ART IS LONG, AND TIME IS FLEETING
Longfellow, A Psalm of Life

THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD IS THE BIOGRAPHY OF GREAT MEN
Carlyle, Essays, "History"

BOOKS WILL SPEAK PLAIN WHEN COUNSELLORS BLANCH
Bacon, Essays "Of Counsel"

GLORY IS ACQUIRED BY VIRTUE BUT PRESERVED BY LETTERS
Petrarch

THE FOUNDATION OF EVERY STATE IS THE EDUCATION OF ITS YOUTH
Dionysius

THE CHIEF GLORY OF EVERY PEOPLE ARISES FROM ITS AUTHORS
Johnson, Preface, A Dictionary of the English Language

ORDER IS HEAVEN'S FIRST LAW
Pope, Essay on Man "Epistle," iv., 49

MEMORY IS THE TREASURER AND GUARDIAN OF ALL THINGS
Cicero, De Oratore, i., 5

BEAUTY IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE
Emerson, Essays, "The Poet"

THERE IS ONE ONLY GOOD, NAMELY, KNOWLEDGE; AND ONE ONLY EVIL, NAMELY IGNORANCE
Diogenes Laertius, Socrates, Sec. xiv.

KNOWLEDGE COMES, BUT WISDOM LINGERS
Tennyson, Locksley Hall, Stanza 72

WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING; THEREFORE GET WISDOM; AND WITH ALL THY GETTING, GET UNDERSTANDING
Holy Bible, Proverbs 4:7

IGNORANCE IS THE CURSE OF GOD, KNOWLEDGE THE WING WHEREWITH WE FLY TO HEAVEN
Shakespeare, Henry IV, pt. ii, Act iv., Sc. 7

HOW CHARMING IS DIVINE PHILOSOPHY!
Milton, Comus, 476

BOOKS MUST FOLLOW SCIENCES, AND NOT SCIENCES BOOKS
Bacon, Proposition Touching Amendment of Laws

IN BOOKS LIES THE SOUL OF THE WHOLE PAST TIME
Carlyle, On Heroes and Hero Worship, "The Hero as a Man of Letters"

WORDS ARE ALSO ACTIONS AND ACTIONS ARE A KIND OF WORDS
Emerson, Essays, "The Poet"

READING MAKETH A FULL MAN; CONFERENCE A READY MAN; AND WRITING, AN EXACT MAN
Bacon, Essays, "Of Studies"

NO REAL POET EVER WOVE IN NUMBERS
ALL HIS DREAMS
LOVE AND LIFE UNITED
ARE TWIN MYSTERIES, DIFFERENT YET THE SAME
LOVE MAY STRIVE, BUT VAIN IS THE ENDEAVOR
ALL ITS BOUNDLESS RICHES TO EXPRESS
ART AND LOVE SPEAK AND THEIR WORDS MUST BE
LIKE SIGHINGS OF ILLIMITABLE FORESTS

DWELLS WITHIN THE SOUL OF EVERY ARTIST
MORE THAN ALL HIS EFFORT CAN EXPRESS
NO GREAT THINKER EVER LIVED AND TAUGHT YOU
ALL THE WONDER THAT HIS SOUL RECEIVED
NO TRUE PAINTER SET ON CANVAS
ALL THE GLORIOUS VISION HE CONCEIVED
NO MUSICIAN
BUT BE SURE HE HEARD, AND STROVE TO RENDER,
FEEBLE ECHOES OF CELESTIAL STRAINS

THAT THIS NATION, UNDER GOD, SHALL HAVE A NEW BIRTH OF FREEDOM; THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE, SHALL NOT PERISH FROM THE EARTH
Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg, Pa., November 19, 1863

'TIS OUR TRUE POLICY TO STEER CLEAR OF PERMANENT ALLIANCE
WITH ANY PORTION OF THE FOREIGN WORLD
George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796

LET OUR OBJECT BE OUR COUNTRY, OUR WHOLE COUNTRY, AND NOTHING BUT OUR COUNTRY
Daniel Webster, Address at Charlestown, Mass., June 17, 1825.
Cornerstone Ceremonies for Bunker Hill Monument.

THANK GOD, I ALSO AM AN AMERICAN!
Daniel Webster, Address at Charlestown, Mass., June 17, 1843.
Dedication of Bunker Hill Monument.

EQUAL AND EXACT JUSTICE TO ALL MEN, OF WHATEVER STATE OR PERSUASION, RELIGIOUS OR POLITICAL: PEACE, COMMERCE, AND HONEST
FRIENDSHIP WITH ALL NATIONS-ENTANGLING ALLIANCE WITH NONE
Thomas Jefferson, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

THE AGRICULTURAL INTEREST OF THE COUNTRY IS CONNECTED WITH EVERY OTHER, AND SUPERIOR IN IMPORTANCE TO THEM ALL
Andrew Jackson, Message to Congress, December 8, 1829

LET US HAVE PEACE
U.S. Grant, Letter accepting nomination to the Presidency, May 29, 1868.

THE AGGREGATE HAPPINESS OF SOCIETY IS, OR OUGHT TO BE, THE END OF ALL GOVERNMENT
George Washington, Political Maxims

TO BE PREPARED FOR WAR IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE MEANS OF PRESERVING PEACE
George Washington, Speech to Congress, January 8, 1790.

James Madison Memorial Building, Library of Congress

KNOWLEDGE WILL FOREVER GOVERN IGNORANCE: AND A PEOPLE WHO MEAN TO BE THEIR OWN GOVERNOURS, MUST ARM THEMSELVES WITH THE POWER WHICH KNOWLEDGE GIVES.

WHAT SPECTACLE CAN BE MORE EDIFYING OR MORE SEASONABLE, THAN THAT OF LIBERTY & LEARNING, EACH LEANING ON THE OTHER FOR THEIR MUTUAL & SUREST SUPPORT?

LEARNED INSTITUTIONS OUGHT TO BE FAVORITE OBJECTS WITH EVERY FREE PEOPLE. THEY THROW THAT LIGHT OVER THE PUBLIC MIND WHICH IS THE BEST SECURITY AGAINST CRAFTY & DANGEROUS ENCROACHMENTS ON THE PUBLIC LIBERTY

THE HAPPY UNION OF THESE STATES IS A WONDER: THEIR CONSTITUTION A MIRACLE: THEIR EXAMPLE THE HOPE OF LIBERTY THOUGHOUT THE WORLD

THE ESSENCE OF GOVERNMENT IS POWER; AND POWER, LODGED AS IT MUST BE IN HUMAN HANDS, WILL EVER BE LIABLE TO ABUSE

EQUAL LAWS PROTECTING EQUAL RIGHTS ARE THE BEST GUARANTEE OF LOYALTY & LOVE OF COUNTRY

AS A MAN IS SAID TO HAVE A RIGHT TO HIS PROPERTY, HE MAY BE EQUALLY SAID TO HAVE A PROPERTY IN HIS RIGHTS

WAR CONTAINS MUCH FOLLY, AS WELL AS WICKEDNESS, THAT MUCH IS TO BE HOPED FROM THE PROGRESS OF REASON; AND IF ANYTHING IS TO BE HOPED, EVERY THING OUGHT TO BE TRIED

THE FREE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT WE HAVE ESTABLISHED IS SO CONGENIAL WITH REASON, WITH COMMON SENSE, AND WITH A UNIVERSAL FEELING THAT IT MUST PRODUCE APPROBATION AND A DESIRE OF IMITATION, AS AVENUES MAY BE FOUND FOR TRUTH TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF NATIONS

THE SAFETY AND HAPPINESS OF SOCIETY ARE THE OBJECTS AT WHICH ALL POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AIM, AND TO WHICH ALL SUCH INSTITUTIONS MUST BE SACRIFICED

National Archives Building

STUDY THE PAST

WHAT IS PAST IS PROLOGUE

Marine Corps War Memorial

UNCOMMON VALOR WAS A COMMON VIRTUE

Jefferson Memorial

I HAVE SWORN UPON THE ALTAR OF GOD ETERNAL HOSTILITY AGAINST EVERY FORM OF TYRANNY OVER THE MIND OF MAN

ALMIGHTY GOD HATH CREATED THE MIND FREE. ALL ATTEMPTS TO INFLUENCE IT BY TEMPORAL PUNISHMENTS OR BURTHENS...ARE A DEPARTURE FROM THE PLAN OF THE HOLY AUTHOR OF OUR RELIGION...NO MAN SHALL BE COMPELLED TO FREQUENT OR SUPPORT ANY RELIGIOUS WORSHIP OR MINISTRY OR SHALL OTHERWISE SUFFER ON ACCOUNT OF HIS RELIGIOUS OPINIONS OR BELIEF, BUT ALL MEN SHALL BE FREE TO PROFESS AND BY ARGUMENT TO MAINTAIN, THEIR OPINIONS IN MATTERS OF RELIGION. I KNOW BUT ONE CODE OF MORALITY FOR MEN WHETHER ACTING SINGLY OR COLLECTIVELY

GOD WHO GAVE US LIFE GAVE US LIBERTY. CAN THE LIBERTIES OF A NATION BE SECURE WHEN WE HAVE REMOVED A CONVICTION THAT THESE LIBERTIES ARE THE GIFT OF GOD? INDEED I TREMBLE FOR MY COUNTRY WHEN I REFLECT THAT GOD IS JUST, THAT HIS JUSTICE CANNOT SLEEP FOREVER. COMMERCE BETWEEN MASTER AND SLAVE IS DESPOTISM. NOTHING IS MORE CERTAINLY WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF FATE THAN THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE TO BE FREE. ESTABLISH A LAW FOR EDUCATING THE COMMON PEOPLE. THIS IT IS THE BUSINESS OF THE STATE AND ON A GENERAL PLAN

I AM NOT AN ADVOCATE FOR FREQUENT CHANGES IN LAWS AND CONSTITUTIONS, BUT LAWS AND INSTITUTIONS MUST GO HAND IN HAND WITH THE PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN MIND. AS THAT BECOMES MORE DEVELOPED, MORE ENLIGHTENED, AS NEW DISCOVERIES ARE MADE, NEW TRUTHS DISCOVERED AND MANNERS AND OPINIONS CHANGE, WITH THE CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES, INSTITUTIONS MUST ADVANCE ALSO TO KEEP PACE WITH THE TIMES. WE MIGHT AS WELL REQUIRE A MAN TO WEAR STILL THE COAT WHICH FITTED HIM WHEN A BOY AS CIVILIZED SOCIETY TO REMAIN EVER UNDER THE REGIMEN OF THEIR BARBAROUS ANCESTORS.

Georgia State Capitol, Statue of Thomas E. Watson

DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS EXIST BY REASON OF THEIR VIRTUE
IF EVER THEY PERISH IT WILL BE WHEN YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE PAST BECOME INDIFFERENT TO THE PRESENT, AND UTTERLY RECKLESS AS TO THE FUTURE

Louisiana State Capitol Building

WE HAVE LIVED THIS LONG BUT THIS IS THE NOBLEST WORK OF OUR WHOLE LIVES. IT WILL TRANSFORM VAST SOLITUDES INTO THRIVING DISTRICTS. THE UNITED STATES TAKE RANK THIS DAY AMONG THE FIRST POWERS OF THE EARTH
- Robert Livingston, 1803

Nebraska State Capitol Building

THE SALVATION OF THE STATE IS WATCHFULNESS IN THE CITIZEN

HONOUR TO CITIZENS WHO BUILD A HOUSE OF STATE WHERE MEN LIVE WELL

Oregon State Capitol Building

A FREE STATE IS FORMED AND IS MAINTAINED BY THE VOLUNTARY UNION OF THE WHOLE PEOPLE JOINED TOGETHER UNDER THE SAME BODY OF LAWS FOR THE COMMON WELFARE AND THE SHARING OF BENEFITS JUSTLY APPORTIONED

THE MIND OF MAN KNOWS NO EMPLOYMENT MORE WORTHY OF ITS POWERS THAN THE QUEST OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN HUMAN AFFAIRS NO GOAL OF ITS LABOURS THAT IS SUPERIOR TO THE DISCOVERY OF THE GOOD IN THE GUIDANCE OF LIFE

Virginia State Capitol Building, Statue of Robert E. Lee

PROFOUNDLY IMPRESSED WITH THE SOLEMNITY OF THE OCCASION, FOR WHICH I MUST SAY I WAS NOT PREPARED, I ACCEPT THE POSITION ASSIGNED ME BY YOUR PARTIALITY.
I WOULD HAVE MUCH PREFERRED HAD YOUR CHOICE FALLEN ON AN ABLER MAN. TRUSTING IN ALMIGHTY GOD, AN APPROVING CONSCIENCE, AND THE AID OF MY FELLOW-CITIZENS, I DEVOTE MYSELF TO THE SERVICE OF MY NATIVE STATE, IN WHOSE BEHALF ALONE WILL I EVER AGAIN DRAW MY SWORD.

Wyoming State Capitol

IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY FERVENT HOPE AND POLICY, THROUGH THESE LONG YEARS TO MAINTAIN PEACE AND HARMONY IT IS MY EARNEST PRAYER THAT YOU WILL FOLLOW THE FOOTSTEPS WHICH I HAVE MADE FOR YOU
- Chief Washakie

[Fife]

Not a building, but a monument, but what the heck, here goes anyway:

Go, stranger, and to Sparta tell,
that here, obeying her commands,
we fell.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Jesus Christ, is there a character limit on this thing?

-GCF, MHF, 2017

[C-Mag]

So when the whole thing finally tumbles down and the next millennium's generation picks through the rubble, what words carved in stone or cast in iron will they find that inspired their ancestors? Feel free to add your favorites to the list...

Holy Wall O Text DeO !
Jeez, leave us a couple to post for Petes Sake.


I think most of these are cast in Bronze. Bronze lasts forever. One I've thought about is the Lincoln Memorial. This is in stone, but I think there is a bronze plaque too.



Future Archy's are going to think Lincoln was one of our Gods. Maybe the God of War and Tyranny

[de officiis]

Thanks—and yes, bronze.

I think it’s interesting to read through these with an eye toward some questions:

Are any of these still relevant today? If so, which ones and why?

Are there any that would likely never be written today?

If these writings represent our ideals for societal organization, what grade should we assign ourselves in judging our fidelity to them?

[SuburbanFarmer]

Thanks—and yes, bronze.

I think it’s interesting to read through these with an eye toward some questions:

Are any of these still relevant today? If so, which ones and why?

Are there any that would likely never be written today?

If these writings represent our ideals for societal organization, what grade should we assign ourselves in judging our fidelity to them?

Now you're just trolling.

[de officiis]

Thanks—and yes, bronze.

I think it’s interesting to read through these with an eye toward some questions:

Are any of these still relevant today? If so, which ones and why?

Are there any that would likely never be written today?

If these writings represent our ideals for societal organization, what grade should we assign ourselves in judging our fidelity to them?

Now you're just trolling.

No I wasn't, but I'm not surprised that is how it appears to you.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Thanks—and yes, bronze.

I think it’s interesting to read through these with an eye toward some questions:

Are any of these still relevant today? If so, which ones and why?

Are there any that would likely never be written today?

If these writings represent our ideals for societal organization, what grade should we assign ourselves in judging our fidelity to them?

Now you're just trolling.

No I wasn't, but I'm not surprised that is how it appears to you.

I'm surprised that you're surprised. Do you think that any of those ideals have been held to in our society? Any. of. them?