An Institution Or Reform Movement That Is

It Irritates Me To Be Told How Things Have Always Been Done. I Defy The Tyranny Of Precedent. I Cannot Afford The Luxury Of A Closed Mind.

People Should Not Say That This Or That Is Not Worth Learning, Giving As Their Reason That It Will Not Be Put To Use. They Can No More Know What Information They Will Need In The Future Than They Will Know The Weather Two Hundred Years From Today.

I Founded The American Red Cross.

What Could I Do But Go With Them Civil War Soldiers, Or Work For Them And My Country? The Patriot Blood Of My Father Was Warm In My Veins.

I Have Never Worked For Fame Or Praise, And Shall Not Feel Their Loss As I Otherwise Would. I Have Never For A Moment Lost Sight Of The Humble Life I Was Born To, Its Small Environments, And The Consequently Little Right I Had To Expect Much Of Myself, And Shall Have The Less To Censure, Or Upbraid Myself With For The Failures I Must See Myself Make.