Walter Isaacson on The Greatest Sentence Ever Written

The Next Big Idea

Next Big Idea Club

Education, Social Sciences, Science, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2025

⏱️ 69 minutes

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Summary

What is the greatest sentence ever written? According to Walter Isaacson — former editor of Time, ex-CEO of CNN, and the acclaimed biographer of Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin, and Jennifer Doudna — it’s this: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Yes, it’s eloquent, but more than that, it gave the United States a mission statement, one that we are still striving — fitfully, imperfectly — to meet. Walter’s new book, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, unpacks that mission statement: how it came to be written, what it meant to the founders, and why it matters today. We're pleased to announce that we've chosen it as our latest selection for the Next Big Idea Club. That means current members will receive a copy in the mail any day now, along with a digital reading guide, the opportunity to discuss the book with fellow members in our WhatsApp community, and an exclusive invitation to a live Q&A with Walter in December. If you're not already a member, sign up today at nextbigideaclub.com. And if you use the code PODCAST at checkout, we’ll take 20% off your order and send you a signed copy of the book.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Rufus Grisgham, and this is the next big idea.
0:04.6	Today, Walter Isaacson on the sentence that changed human history. The last time I read the Declaration of Independence was about a decade ago.
0:33.4	I was standing in the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. with my family, and my eyes got all
0:38.7	teary. On Saturday, I read it again, this time quietly in a restaurant to my 15-year-old son
0:46.3	over brunch. A tear ran all the way down my cheek.
0:51.2	Dad, you can stop reading now, my son begged. Please stop. Of course, I kept reading.
0:59.3	I was holding an early copy of the latest book from Walter Isaacson, one of the great
1:04.3	biographers, writers, and public intellectuals of our time. It's called The Greatest
1:10.1	Sentence Ever Written. Walter is referring to the second
1:13.7	sentence of the Declaration of Independence, with which we're all familiar. We hold these truths to be
1:19.8	self-evidence, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain
1:26.4	inalienable rights,
1:27.9	that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
1:32.8	I tried to explain to my son why these words were making me all overclamped.
1:37.7	I think it's the knowledge that the men who wrote them were risking their lives.
1:42.8	They knew as they signed their names that they might hang from
1:46.9	ropes in the public square if they failed. But the possibility of creating a new and better
1:53.0	society in which people enjoyed freedom as well as common ground, a society in which people
1:58.7	took care of each other and respected each other's liberties,
2:02.8	it was worth dying for.
2:05.1	I think I was even more emotional this time around when I read these words because I fear
2:09.0	we've forgotten them.
	...

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