On the record
Next after the opening words of the Declaration of Independence, the opening words of the Constitution are the grandest in history.
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gutenberg.orgEditor's note · Context
Sumner describes the opening words of the Constitution as among the most significant in history, second only to the Declaration of Independence.
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They belong to a system so essentially irrational, that all the admitted virtues of many of its agents cannot save it from judgment.
Again I repeat, so long as the War System prevails under the sanction of International Law, these painful incongruities will be apparent.
The most distant are not without a present influence on our daily lives.
Still further: every ship-of-war that floats costs more than a well-endowed college.
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