Quote#Time
The first duty of a state is to see that every child born therein…
Quote byJohn Ruskin · 1819–1900
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Time and Tide (1867), Letter XIII: Episcopacy and Dukedom, section 70.
English (original)
The first duty of a state is to see that every child born therein shall be well housed, clothed, fed, and educated, till it attains years of discretion.
— John Ruskin
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In great states, children are always trying to remain children, and the parents wanting to make men and women of them. In vile states, the children are always wanting to be men and women, and the parents to keep them children.