There is a blessed necessity by which the interest of men is always driving them to the right and, again, making all crime mean and ugly. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ah, lives of men! When prosperous they glitter – Like a fair picture when misfortune comes – A wet sponge at one blow has blurred the painting. – Aeschylus

I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all. – Alexis de Tocqueville