Only the great generalizations survive. The sharp words of the Declaration of Independence, lampooned then and since as 'glittering generalities,' have turned out blazing ubiquities that will burn forever and ever. The general principle is the enduring one, the particular application is always temporary. The Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the French Rights of Man, the English Magna Charta, are all great generalizations, and have proved themselves to be the only things that have survived the tempests of time.