Sunday

Arc of the Universe

In my DC 2013 blog below, I referred to a quote at the Martin Luther King Memorial: The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. I wondered what the origin of the quote was, so I googled it! Quote Investigator ( http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/11/15/arc-of-universe/ ) attributes the origin to Theodore Parker, a nineteenth century Unitarian minister and Transcendentalist, found in a collection of sermons published in 1857. The excerpt from his sermon on slavery appears below. If you refer to the Quote Investigator page, many permutations of the concept by other writers are listed.

Look at the facts of the world. You see a continual and progressive triumph of the right. I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.

Things refuse to be mismanaged long. Jefferson trembled when he thought of slavery and remembered that God is just. Ere long all America will tremble.



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