Among the many great words "etched in stone" on our nation's monuments, the most moving and most memorable (in the aggregate, at least) to me are those names etched on the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial on the Mall. This doubtless has something to do with my generation, and it could certainly be argued that these words are moving to me for a fundamentally different reason and in a fundamentally different way than those fine phrases (e.g.) on the Lincoln Memorial, but moving they are nonetheless.

T.

Sent by Thomas | 9:19 AM ET | 03-27-2007

A bronze plaque hangs by the entrance to Bascom Hall on the UW-Madison campus and reads...

"Whatever may be the limitations which trammel inquiry elsewhere, we believe that the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found."

Sent by Robert Kennedy (alum) | 4:07 PM ET | 03-27-2007

By the main steps to the Wasco County Courthouse in The Dalles [rhymes with "The Pals"] Oregon is a statue of an antelope. It carries the inscription ???Dedicated to all who steadfastly and unwaveringly opposed the attempts of the Rajneesh followers to take political control of Wasco County: 1981-1985.??? Below this, the plaque carries a quote from Irish politician Edmund Burke ???The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.???
Those of us who lived through the period when the Rajneesh did take over the town of Antelope in southern Wasco County for a period, and who openly planned to take political control of the county itself by busing in homeless people from metropolitan areas to register to vote locally.
Ultimately, 25 cult members were charged with electronic eavesdropping conspiracy, 13 with immigration conspiracy, 8 with lying to federal officials, 3 with harboring a fugitive, 3 for criminal conspiracy, 1 for burglary, 1 for racketeering (RICO), 1 for first degree arson, 2 for second degree assault, 3 for first degree assault and 3 for attempted murder.
The statue is a potent reminder of the dangers of apathy.

Sent by Rodger Nichols | 12:24 PM ET | 03-28-2007

"Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens." An inscription from the 10th St. entrance to the D.O.J. (Justice) Building. I was struck by the simple truth of this inscription, and copied it down on a napkin when I first viewed it when visiting D.C.

Sent by Kyra Dwyer | 3:20 PM ET | 03-28-2007

These are the words etched on the Central Denver Public Library building. "I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library." - Jorge Luis Borges

Sent by joan | 3:24 PM ET | 03-28-2007

"And Don't You Forget It!", is written on a stone plaque which hangs over the door to the town hall in the small but mighty Village of Pinckney, Michigan, which lies 17.3 miles north of Ann Arbor. Word of mouth has it that in the early 1900's there was a bitter dispute over a small piece of land which now makes up the town square. It seems the village elders wanted to "acquire" the land, but the owner refused to relinquish it. After lenghty litigation, a compromise was negotiated which gave the use of the existing small wooden home for village business only, and the use of the surrouding land to the people of the village. Further, if the house was used for any purpose other than village business, it would be forfeited back to the people. The land surrounding this house was donated directly to the people of Pinckney and it was stipulated that the land was to be used for no other purpose than for the people residing in the village. To insure the continuation of this agreement, the owner stipulated in the lawsuit that the "And Don't You Forget It" plaque must kept in place over the door in perpituity.

-Catherine C. Payne.

Sent by Catherine C. Payne | 4:25 PM ET | 03-28-2007

On the memorial at the site of the Robert F. Kennedy grave site the following words are found:

Aeschylus wrote: 'In our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.'

Robert F. Kennedy
an extemporaneous eulogy to Martin Luther King, Jr., evening of April 4, 1968, in Indianapolis

Sent by Thomas F. Boulden | 9:26 PM ET | 03-28-2007