"Most of man's problems upon this planet, in the long history of the race, have been met and solved either partially or as a whole by experiment based on common sense and carried out with courage"
About this Quote
Perkins frames progress as something earned, not granted: problems get "met and solved" the way a labor dispute or a depression gets handled - by trying things, revising them, and refusing to panic when the first attempt is imperfect. The key word is "experiment". It smuggles a radical idea into calm, managerial language: government is allowed to test solutions. In a political culture that often treats policy as moral purity or permanent doctrine, Perkins insists it can be provisional, evidence-driven, and still legitimate.
"Common sense" is doing rhetorical heavy lifting. It's an appeal to the everyday voter who mistrusts experts, but Perkins uses it to defend the very machinery of modern administration she helped build. The subtext is: you don't need ideological certainty to act; you need practical judgment. That stance fits a New Deal architect who had to sell Social Security, unemployment insurance, and workplace protections as reasonable safeguards rather than revolutionary overreach.
Then there's "carried out with courage", an acknowledgment that experimentation isn't just technical - it's political. Trying new answers means absorbing backlash, tolerating ambiguity, and betting your career on institutions that haven't yet proven themselves. Perkins knew this personally as the first woman in a U.S. Cabinet and as the labor secretary navigating hostile business interests and a skeptical public.
By stretching the timeline to "the long history of the race", she turns New Deal improvisation into a human tradition: civilization advances when people test reality instead of worshipping certainty. It's a rebuke to both cynics who think nothing works and purists who think only one thing can.
"Common sense" is doing rhetorical heavy lifting. It's an appeal to the everyday voter who mistrusts experts, but Perkins uses it to defend the very machinery of modern administration she helped build. The subtext is: you don't need ideological certainty to act; you need practical judgment. That stance fits a New Deal architect who had to sell Social Security, unemployment insurance, and workplace protections as reasonable safeguards rather than revolutionary overreach.
Then there's "carried out with courage", an acknowledgment that experimentation isn't just technical - it's political. Trying new answers means absorbing backlash, tolerating ambiguity, and betting your career on institutions that haven't yet proven themselves. Perkins knew this personally as the first woman in a U.S. Cabinet and as the labor secretary navigating hostile business interests and a skeptical public.
By stretching the timeline to "the long history of the race", she turns New Deal improvisation into a human tradition: civilization advances when people test reality instead of worshipping certainty. It's a rebuke to both cynics who think nothing works and purists who think only one thing can.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
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