Quote#Politics & Power
“What is an oath?” ... [I]t is founded on a degree of consciousness…
Quote byDaniel Webster · 1782–1852
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Mr. Webster’s Speech in Defense of the Christian Ministry and in Favor of the Religious Instruction of the Young, Delivered in the Supreme Court of the United States, February 10, 1844, in the Case of Stephen Girard’s Will (Washington: Gales and Seaton, 1844), pp. 43, 51.
English (original)
“What is an oath?” ... [I]t is founded on a degree of consciousness that there is a Power above us that will reward our virtues or punish our vices. ... [O]ur system of oaths in all our courts, by which we hold liberty and property and all our rights, are founded on or rest on Christianity and a religious belief.
— Daniel Webster
More from Daniel Webster
God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.
Labor in this country is independent and proud. It has not to ask the patronage of capital, but capital solicits the aid of labor.
A strong impression that something must be done, is the origin of many bad measures.
He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet.
It is, Sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet there are those who love it!
Justice, sir, is the great interest of man on Earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together. Wherever her temple stands, and so long as it is duly honored, there is a foundation for social security, …