" America was born with an epistemological assertion: The important political truths are not merely knowable, they are known. They are self-evident in that they are obvious to any mind not clouded by ignorance or superstition. It is, the Declaration says, self-evidently true that “all men are created equal” not only in their access to the important political truths, but also in being endowed with certain unalienable rights, including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Perhaps the most important word in the Declaration is the word “secure”: “[T]o secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.” Government’s primary purpose is to secure pre-existing rights. Government does not create rights; it does not dispense them. "
― George F. Will , The Conservative Sensibility
![George F. Will quote : America was born with an epistemological assertion: The important political truths are not merely knowable, they are known. They are self-evident in that they are obvious to any mind not clouded by ignorance or superstition. It is, the Declaration says, self-evidently true that “all men are created equal” not only in their access to the important political truths, but also in being endowed with certain unalienable rights, including the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Perhaps the most important word in the Declaration is the word “secure”: “[T]o secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.” Government’s primary purpose is to secure pre-existing rights. Government does not create rights; it does not dispense them.](/image/2535196.jpg)