On one occasion I was speaking to about 300 people at a convention in Provo, Utah. My topic was “The Pursuit of Happiness—Thomas Jefferson.” I had 55 minutes to tell about Thomas Jefferson’s life and accomplishments. Needless to say, I only got to the highlights.
Afterwards a very kind lady came up to visit with me for a minute and thank me for my address. She introduced herself as a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She went on to tell me about a choir tour that she was a part of. The Choir toured, visited and sang at some important places involved in U.S. History.
Will Durant was an historian and philosopher. He wrote the major treatise “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.” The he distilled more than 2,000 years of history into his favorite 3 little words. Those words? “Love one another.”
In discussing last nights GOP Presidential debate, one commentator boldly stated that there possibly hadn’t been an election with as much acrimonious attacks since Adams and Jefferson. Of course, none of us were alive to really remember that—and there wasn’t any TV coverage.
Tom and Martha were married on her father’s plantation in Virginia on New Years Day, 1772. He was 29 and she was a widow at 24. Tom described their marriage as “ten years of uncheckered happiness.” Martha died at the age of 33.