Jefferson’s Blog
Some election issues are timeless.
Thomas Jefferson writes on the issues of his day, and ours.
May 3, 2012
How will future generations advance our society?
“When I contemplate the immense advances in science and discoveries in the arts which have been made within the period of my life, I look forward with confidence to equal advances by the present generation, and have no doubt they will consequently be as much wiser than we have been as we than our fathers were, and they than the burners of witches.”
–Thomas Jefferson, March 3, 1818
iCitizenForum
Marty says:
The classic “children are the future” truism. Funny to see Jefferson dusting it off here.
The beauty, you see, of pinning our responsibilities on “the future” is that we never have to deal with the problems of the present. Adults today are the children of yesterday. What is it our job to be doing as the generation matured?
I would say to Mr. Jefferson and everyone who repeats this empty fact, “What are you doing, TODAY?”
Will of the People says:
I tend to disagree with the previous interpretation on Jefferson’s words. I do not see Jefferson writing “children are the future” but rather that prior generations lay the groundwork for future generations to build. Jefferson feels the work of his generation has advanced the knowledge of his predecessors and has set the stage for the current generation to foster a fledgling nation into a model society.