I, for one, hope that youth will again revolt and again demoralize the dead weight of conformity that now lies upon us

Persecution is the first law of society because it is always easier to suppress criticism than to meet it.

Ours is the age which is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to.

Persecution is the first law of society because it is always easier to suppress criticism than to meet it

Emerson then incarnated the moral optimism, the progress, and the energy of the American spirit.

But human beings are not machines, and however powerful the pressure to conform, they sometimes are so moved by what they see as injustice that they dare to declare their independence. In that historical possibility lies hope.