Bitterly divisive politics. Disgusting racial violence and killings. Imagine if all Americans took a timeout to read a short speech Judge Learned Hand gave on “I Am an American Day” 78 years ago today (May 20, 1944).

The speech – “The Spirit of Liberty” – called for an affirmation of faith, “a faith in a common purpose, a common conviction, a common devotion.” Hand recognized that Americans seek liberty and asked what it is we seek. He perceptively recognized that we chase “false hopes” if we merely seek our liberty in constitutions, laws and courts.