I am a high school student in North Carolina, and not only were we assigned a short essay on this quote, but we are also reading excerpts from "Common Sense," "The Crisis," and "The Rights of Man" during class. I have been visiting this site for a while, and I see far too many of these jaded comments implying that nothing good ever happens any more, and everything and everybody that was worth anything is part of the past. Good things are happening all around, and the future is not as bleak as you all seem to think. Have heart!