Quote of the Day: Thomas Jefferson

First up, sorry for not blogging more often. Personal circumstances have prevented me from being as active as I'd like, and it's likely my blogging might remain spotty for the better part of the next month.

I was in Washington, DC with my parents last weekend, and was really struck by the following quote by Thomas Jefferson. At a time when we seem to obsess about what the Founding Fathers had in mind, it's interesting that one of those men certainly hadn't intended the stubborn dedication to their thoughts and views. This inscription is on the Jefferson memorial, along with more famous quotes:

I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.