““In 1856 the Know-Nothings even ran a former president, Millard Fillmore, as their presidential candidate. "Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid", observed Abraham Lincoln. "As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal'. We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except Negroes'. When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except Negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics'".””
![“I would say one thing writing this book [Lincoln in the Bardo] did for me was underscore the fact that this issue [all men are created equal] has never been properly addressed and it hasn't gone away.” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0c5/george-saunders-317_book_i-would-say-one-thing-writing-this-book_1522919.jpg)
![“[P]ressed too far, the cult of ethnicity has had bad consequences too. The new ethnic gospel rejects the unifying vision of individuals from all nations melted into a new race. Its underlying philosophy is that America is not a nation of individuals at all but a nation of groups, that ethnicity is…” quote by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bd0/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr-2-2017_american-history_p-ressed-too-far-the-cult-of-ethnicity-h_881791.jpg)
![“[I]s there not something basically hostile to the actor's art in the consanguinity principle? After all, what is acting but an exercise in dissimulation? The challenge to actors is to create characters on the stage; and these characters may be very different from what the actors are in real life…” quote by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b7b/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr-2-2017_art_i-s-there-not-something-basically-hostil_1210985.jpg)
