Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
From Music and the Spoken Word
Delivered By: Lloyd D. Newell • Program 4164
In 1776, 56 men signed a document that put at risk their “Lives, [their] Fortunes, and [their] sacred Honor.” This document, the Declaration of Independence, boldly proposed a remarkable idea: that the king was made for the people, not the people for the king.
This was, indeed, a revolutionary document, for, throughout most of recorded history, it had been the king who decided who would prosper and who would not. And because people needed the bread, shelter, and security that the king provided, they often accepted a life of servitude and surrendered their freedom in exchange for these necessities.
But then something happened. The common man began to stir and awaken from his slumber. He began asking questions that had before seemed impossible, too dangerous even to consider: “Why should we forever be children, dependent upon another for our bread? Aren’t all men created equal? Can we truly choose our own destiny? Can we live free?”
From that day to this, the spark of liberty has grown into a bright flame that shines in the souls of millions of men and women throughout the world, inspiring them to create for themselves a life and future of their own choosing.
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