Quotes About Change

The idea of innovation is the idea of progress stripped of the aspirations of the Enlightenment, scrubbed clean of the horrors of the twentieth century, and relieved of its critics.

Between 1910 and 1920, the percentage of married women who worked had nearly doubled, and the number of married women in the professions had risen by 40 percent, Collier noted. "The question, therefore, is no longer, should women combine marriage with careers, but how?"23

For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.

The only way to answer the question "Are things getting better or are they getting worse?" is to discover whether modern man knows more or is wiser than his ancestors, Weaver argued. And his answer to this question was no. With the scientific revolution, "facts"—particular explanations for how the world works—had replaced "truth"—a general understanding of the meaning of its existence.

Replacing "progress" with "innovation" skirts the question of whether a novelty is an improvement: the world may not be getting better and better but our devices are getting newer and newer.

To treat the founding documents as Scripture would be to become a slave to the past. "Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched," Jefferson conceded. But when they do, "They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human."33

Mr. President," he began, addressing Washington, "I confess that there are several parts of this constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them." He suggested that he might, one day, change his mind. "For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise

As the years passed, and Madison grew old, he observed how many other nations had followed the United States' lead and written their own constitutions: France, Haiti, Poland, the Netherlands, Switzerland. By 1820, at least sixty constitutions had been written in Europe alone; eighty more would be written by 1850. Very few of those constitutions lasted.18

The turn from reverence to inquiry, from mystery to history, was crucial to the founding of the United States.

Can literacy destroy?

Liberals argued for progress; conservatives argued for a return to the nation's founding principles. Change is a founding principle, too, but people divided by schism are blind to what they share: one half, infallible; the other, never wrong.

Before 1919, Mexicans who entered the United States at the border did not need to apply for entry.

There were about three million people on that island, land of mountains, when Columbus landed; fifty years later, there were only five hundred; everyone else had died, their songs unsung.

in 1916, only 16 percent of Americans lived in homes with electricity, but by 1927, that percentage had risen to 63.118

To treat the founding documents as Scripture would be to become a slave to the past. "Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched," Jefferson conceded. But when they do, "They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human.

every age has its folly

Maybe when she'd been eighteen it was a quality she might have laughed at, but at twenty-eight, dependability had turned into something of an aphrodisiac.

Maybe one day it would happen. Maybe one day her life would start going according to plan instead of spluttering and stalling like some clapped-out old banger.

It's just that we wear rose-coloured spectacles when we return here [to Oxford] – we are dazzled by the foolish idealism of our youthful years.

No one should have to dance backward all of their lives.

If things don't seem right, try going left." – Chloe Traeger

Then one day, I just let it go, and started thinking about the essay as not trying to solve a riddle of why, but as a way of understanding what was changed by my fear, and what that change revealed about my experience of seventh grade.

Fact: Cells are constantly dying and new ones are taking their place Fact: After seven years have gone by, every cell in my body has died and a new one has taken its place. Do the math. That means that every seven years, I'm a totally new me. not one of the old cells remains. Twice, I've had a total makeover

Long live tomorrow's foolish whims.