A Good American Family Quotes

“Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau, the trumpeters of the Golden Day, were all possessed of the vision of a spiritually beautiful and materially secure America and, if for no other reason, they are the men to whom democratic America is now turning for the literary manifestation of its own dream. It is of course impossible to return to the past, even to Whitman and Emerson. But they are essential links; from them and from the entire epic through the last two centuries, we can make our own departure. The American scene is still as much of a challenge as it was in 1776. Thoreau’s dream of what it is to live a full life, and Emerson’s vision of a society that shall be oriented completely towards life, must still be our philosophical guides.”
― David Maraniss, A Good American Family: The Red Scare and My Father