author - "Woodrow Wilson"
The practicabilityof every reform is determined absolutely and always by "thecircumstances of the case," and only those who put themselves intothe midst of affairs, either by action or by observation, can knownwhat those circumstances are or perceive what they signify. Nostatesman dreams of doing whatever he pleases; he knows that it doesnot follow that because a point of morals or of policy is obvious tohim it will be obvious to the nation, or even to his own friends;and it is the strength of a democratic polity that there are so manyminds to be consulted and brought to agreement, and that nothing canbe wisely done for which the thought, and a good deal more than thethought, of the country, its sentiment and its purpose, have notbeen prepared. Social reform is a matter of cooperation, and if itbe of a novel kind, requires an infinite deal of converting to bringthe efficient majority to believe in it and support it. Withouttheir agreement and support it is impossible.
The practicabilityof every reform is determined absolutely and always by "thecircumstances of the case," and only those who put themselves intothe midst of affairs, either by action or by observation, can knownwhat those circumstances are or perceive what they signify. Nostatesman dreams of doing whatever he pleases; he knows that it doesnot follow that because a point of morals or of policy is obvious tohim it will be obvious to the nation, or even to his own friends;and it is the strength of a democratic polity that there are so manyminds to be consulted and brought to agreement, and that nothing canbe wisely done for which the thought, and a good deal more than thethought, of the country, its sentiment and its purpose, have notbeen prepared. Social reform is a matter of cooperation, and if itbe of a novel kind, requires an infinite deal of converting to bringthe efficient majority to believe in it and support it. Withouttheir agreement and support it is impossible.