21st Century: Query 174 (Horace Mann)
“Be
ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”
How can ordinary people leave a positive mark on this world without necessarily becoming famous?
~ Horace Mann was an American educational reformer and Whig politician known for his
commitment to promoting public education. A central theme of his life was that “it
is the law of our nature to desire happiness. This law is not local, but
universal; not temporary, but eternal. It is not a law to be proved by
exceptions, for it knows no exception.”
How can ordinary people leave a positive mark on this world without necessarily becoming famous?
Is it better
to leave a negative mark than no mark at all? Why or why not?
What can we
learn from negative marks left by others?
What does a “victory
for humanity” look like? Examples from today and history?
How can individuals
with modest means win a “victory for humanity”?
How does Mann’s
central theme of desiring happiness closely align to a “victory for humanity”?
How might it contradict it?