Political Quotes

Horace Mann: “An educated man surpasses the ancient idea of a river god; he stands by the Penobscot, the Kennebec, the Merrimack, or…”

On the record
An educated man surpasses the ancient idea of a river god; he stands by the Penobscot, the Kennebec, the Merrimack, or the Connecticut; he commands each of them to do more work than could be performed by a hundred thousand men,--to saw timber, to make cloth, to grind corn,--and they obey.
Said by
Horace Mann
Free Soil · Massachusetts

Editor's note · Context

Mann contrasts the perspective of an educated person with that of ignorant slaves regarding the power of nature.

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