Offered by Susan Kline
Celebrating our independence each July can mean many things to each of us. Our life experiences and perceptions of those experiences give us an individual feeling of what it means to be free. We often think that everyone shares the same meaning. Our appreciation for the privileges we have often gives a clue to others the values that we hold dear. Below is an excerpt from a collection of famous quotes regarding Independence dayby Bill Murphy Jr.
“Independence Day is one of the best American holidays, both for what we celebrate and how we celebrate it.”
“It’s easy, however, to take liberty for granted, and to misconstrue just how difficult it was to gain our freedoms 239 years ago. The Revolutionary War was long and costly–arguably the second longest conflict in American history. While the 50,000 or so casualties on the American side are roughly equal in number to the total dead and wounded in Afghanistan, this was at a time when there were fewer than three million people living in the former British colonies.”
“So by all means, march in a parade, host a barbecue, have a few beers, head to the beach, light off some fireworks. Enjoy the holiday giving a bit of thought as to how we arrived as a country that is blessed with many freedoms.”
(By the way, did you know that the Founding Fathers weren’t just great leaders? They were also true entrepreneurs.)
“[W]e look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression–everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way–everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want–which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants–everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear–which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor–anywhere in the world.”
– Franklin Roosevelt.
The best to you this July as The Brighton Buzz celebrates our 13th Anniversary!
– Susan
