Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.
Abigail Adams
Call Out Great Virtues
Topic: Justice, Vision, & Leadership
“These are the times in which genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm life or the repose of a pacific station that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.“
Abigail Adams (née Smith; November 22, [O.S. November 11] 1744 – October 28, 1818) was the closest advisor and wife of John Adams, as well as the mother of John Quincy Adams. She is sometimes considered to have been a Founder of the United States, and is now designated as the second First Lady of the United States.
Letter to [son] John Quincy Adams
McCullough, David. “Knowing History and Knowing Who We Are.” Imprimis, 20 Apr. 2017, imprimis.hillsdale.edu/knowing-history-and-knowing-who-we-are/, p. 6 [Abigail Adams, Letter to her young son John Quincy Adams].
Abigail Adams
Theme: A Vision of America
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Abigail Adams’ Letter [Read quote above]
“And here is what [Abigail Adams] wrote to him [her son, John Quincy Adams]… Now keep in mind that this is being written to a little kid and listen to how different it is from how we talk to our children in our time. She’s talking as if to a grown up. She’s talking to someone whom they want to bring along quickly because there’s work to do and survival is essential: [see quote in Context above].
Now, there are several interesting things going on in that letter. For all the times she mentions the mind, in the last sentence she says, “When a mind is raised and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.” In other words, the mind itself isn’t enough. You have to have the heart.”
–David McCullough, Historian [Knowing History and Knowing Who We Are, Imprimis (April 2005)]