--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For all the great dreams profitlessly…" description: "\"For all the great dreams profitlessly invested in the digital computer, it is nonetheless true that not since the framers of the American Constitution ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/715/david-berlinski-16009_american-constitutio_for-all-the-great-dreams-profitlessly-in_167135.png" --- # For all the great dreams profitlessly invested in the… ![“For all the great dreams profitlessly invested in the digital computer, it is nonetheless true that not since the framers of the American Constitution took seriously the idea that all men are created equal has an idea so transformed the material conditions of life, the expectations of the race.” quote by David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/715/david-berlinski-16009_american-constitutio_for-all-the-great-dreams-profitlessly-in_167135.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/715/david-berlinski-16009_american-constitutio_for-all-the-great-dreams-profitlessly-in_167135.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/715/david-berlinski-16009_american-constitutio_for-all-the-great-dreams-profitlessly-in_167135.png) > “For all the great dreams profitlessly invested in the digital computer, it is nonetheless true that not since the framers of the American Constitution took seriously the idea that all men are created equal has an idea so transformed the material conditions of life, the expectations of the race.” [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He compares the transformative power of equality ideas to the impact of early computer dreams. **In simple terms:** Equality ideas changed society like early computers. Key Takeaway Recognize the power of foundational ideas. Themes technology equality history social change Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical historical When to use this quote - education reform - policy making - public discourse Key Concepts philosophy political theory Questions to Reflect On - How do ideas become transformative? - What barriers limit equality’s impact? A Different Perspective Equality ideas are contested and unevenly applied. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-constitution/) [Computer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computer/) [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Digital](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/digital/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Expectations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectations/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) ## Related quotes > [Outside of America, there are many people, myself included, who champion values that in some senses could be thought of as traditionally American: The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/outside-of-america-there-are-many-people-myself-included-who-champion-2/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [The Internet's distinct configuration may have facilitated anonymous threats, copyright infringement, and cyberattacks, but it has also kindled the flame of freedom in ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-zittrain/the-internet-s-distinct-configuration-may-have-facilitated-anonymous/) [Jonathan Zittrain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-zittrain/) > [All men are created equal. It is what you do from there that makes the difference. We are all free agents in life. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-beck/all-men-are-created-equal-it-is-what-you-do-from-there-that-makes-the/) [Glenn Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-beck/) > [As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/as-a-nation-we-began-by-declaring-that-all-men-are-created-equal-we/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“One more thing, gentlemen, before I quit. Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the Yankees and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee-to-kill-a-mockingbird/one-more-thing-gentlemen-before-i-quit-thomas-jefferson-once-said/) Harper Lee To Kill A Mockingbird > [“Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal (...). There is a tendency (...) for certain people to use this phrase out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/thomas-jefferson-once-said-that-all-men-are-created-equal-there-is-a/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) > [You don't know who to believe. Like Abraham Lincoln. He said all men were created equal. He never went to a nude beach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-dangerfield/you-don-t-know-who-to-believe-like-abraham-lincoln-he-said-all-men/) [Rodney Dangerfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-dangerfield/) > [For you in the West to hear the phrase 'All men are created equal' is to draw a yawn. For us, it's a miracle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athol-fugard/for-you-in-the-west-to-hear-the-phrase-all-men-are-created-equal-is/) [Athol Fugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athol-fugard/) > [“We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe. Some people are smarter than others, some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/we-know-all-men-are-not-created-equal-in-the-sense-some-people-would/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) > ["All men are created equal." "Government by consent of the governed." "Give me liberty or give me death." And those are not just clever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/all-men-are-created-equal-government-by-consent-of-the-governed-give/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [All men are created equal and have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/all-men-are-created-equal-and-have-the-right-to-life-liberty-and-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The assertion that 'all men are created equal' was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain and it was placed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-assertion-that-all-men-are-created-equal-was-of-no-practical-use/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with a mighty urge to become otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/all-men-are-created-equal-and-endowed-by-their-creator-with-a-mighty/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [All men are created equal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/all-men-are-created-equal/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [All men are created Equal. Some just have more Splenda.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/all-men-are-created-equal-some-just-have-more-splenda/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) ## More by David Berlinski > [In the end, every scheme and every science is justified by itself or it is not justified at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/in-the-end-every-scheme-and-every-science-is-justified-by-itself-or/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [The motion of the mind is conveyed along a cloud of meaning.~ There is this paradox that we get to meaning only when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/the-motion-of-the-mind-is-conveyed-along-a-cloud-of-meaning-there-is/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [“The argument that Hawking has offered may be conveyed by question-and-answer, as in the Catholic catechism.   A Catechism of Quantum Cosmology Q: From…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/the-argument-that-hawking-has-offered-may-be-conveyed-by-question-and/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [If moral statements are about something, then the universe is not quite as science suggests it is, since physical theories, having said nothing about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/if-moral-statements-are-about-something-then-the-universe-is-not/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [“Before you can ask 'Is Darwinian theory correct or not?', You have to ask the preliminary question 'Is it clear enough so that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/before-you-can-ask-is-darwinian-theory-correct-or-not-you-have-to-ask/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [“What Hitler did not believe and what Stalin did not believe and what Mao did not believe and what the SS did not believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/what-hitler-did-not-believe-and-what-stalin-did-not-believe-and-what/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [Bystanders wandered in and out of the merchant's stall, passing the time, talking of dreams they might purchase. Workers and slaves stooped from labor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/bystanders-wandered-in-and-out-of-the-merchant-s-stall-passing-the/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [“Whatever the degree to which Darwin may have “misled science into a dead end,” the biologist Shi V. Liu observed in commenting on Koonin’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/whatever-the-degree-to-which-darwin-may-have-misled-science-into-a/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [No distinction in kind rather than degree between ourselves and the chimps? No distinction? Seriously, folks? Here is a simple operational test: the chimpanzees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/no-distinction-in-kind-rather-than-degree-between-ourselves-and-the/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [The desire to see and the desire to ratify what one has seen are desires at odds with one another, if only because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/the-desire-to-see-and-the-desire-to-ratify-what-one-has-seen-are/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [Every computer divides itself into its hardware and its software, the machine host to its algorithm, the human being to his mind. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/every-computer-divides-itself-into-its-hardware-and-its-software-the/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [I do not know whether any of this is true. I am certain that the scientific community does not know that it is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/i-do-not-know-whether-any-of-this-is-true-i-am-certain-that-the/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [For the most part, it is true, ordinary men and women regard mathematics with energetic distaste, counting its concepts as rhapsodic as cauliflower. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/for-the-most-part-it-is-true-ordinary-men-and-women-regard/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [ The definition of a limit is essentially his \[Cauchy's\] creation and is as much of a miracle as those fantastic Swiss clocks of the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/the-definition-of-a-limit-is-essentially-his-cauchy-s-creation-and-is/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) > [Although every novel is derived directly from another novel, there is really only one novel, the Quixote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/although-every-novel-is-derived-directly-from-another-novel-there-is/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) [Explore all 41 David Berlinski quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) ## More American constitution quotes > [The American Constitution declares 'All men are born equal.' The British Socialist Party add: 'All men must be kept equal'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-american-constitution-declares-all-men-are-born-equal-the-british/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The American Constitution, one of the few modern political documents drawn up by men who were forced by the sternest circumstances to think out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-american-constitution-one-of-the-few-modern-political-documents/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [And I should like to assure you, my Islamic friends, that under the American Constitution, under American tradition, and in American hearts, this Center,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/and-i-should-like-to-assure-you-my-islamic-friends-that-under-the/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [ \[quoting someone else\] the American constitution is a document designed by geniuses to be eventually interpreted by idiots ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-j-ellis/quoting-someone-else-the-american-constitution-is-a-document-designed/) [Joseph J. Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-j-ellis/) > [Two Soviets . . . were talking to each other. And one of them asked, "What's the difference between the Soviet Constitution and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/two-soviets-were-talking-to-each-other-and-one-of-them-asked-what-s/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [In view of the tide of religiosity engulfing a once secular republic it is refreshing to be reminded by Freethinkers that free thought and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/in-view-of-the-tide-of-religiosity-engulfing-a-once-secular-republic/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Anyone who says the American Constitution is obsolete just because social and economic conditions have changed does not understand the real genius of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-cleon-skousen/anyone-who-says-the-american-constitution-is-obsolete-just-because/) [W. Cleon Skousen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-cleon-skousen/) > [The American Constitution is the greatest governing document, and at some 7,000 words, just about the shortest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-american-constitution-is-the-greatest-governing-document-and-at/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [“In America, the only way to succeed politically is to contest your opponent at every pass; to attack every weakness, and most importantly, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-moehring/in-america-the-only-way-to-succeed-politically-is-to-contest-your/) Ryan Moehring > [If someone has a Muslim background and they're willing to reject those tenets and to accept the way of life that we have and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-carson/if-someone-has-a-muslim-background-and-they-re-willing-to-reject/) [Benjamin Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-carson/) > [“The conscious utterance of thought, by speech or action, to any end, is Art. From the first imitative babble of a child to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-conscious-utterance-of-thought-by-speech-or-action-to-any-end-is/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Andrew Moraviscik, one of the best American scholars of Europe, points out that once you exclude translators and clerical workers, the European Commission employs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fareed-zakaria/andrew-moraviscik-one-of-the-best-american-scholars-of-europe-points/) [Fareed Zakaria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fareed-zakaria/) > [“The American Constitution was carefully rigged by the noteholders, land speculators, rum runners, and slave holders who were the Founding Fathers, so that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-william-domhoff/the-american-constitution-was-carefully-rigged-by-the-noteholders/) G. 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