The spirit of liberty

I think I may have posted this before as a comment somewhere, but I like the following quote enough to want to post it here early on. It is taken from a speech by Judge Learned Hand in a speech he gave in 1944. To me, it encapsulates the approach I am trying to take towards life:

"What then is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it; I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the mind of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own without bias; the spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded; the spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who, near two thousand years ago, taught mankind that lesson it has never learned but never quite forgotten; that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest."

- 21 May 1944, “I Am an American Day” ceremony held in Central Park, New York City