A liberal is a man or a woman or a child who looks forward to a better day, a more tranquil night, and a bright, infinite future.

The line defines “liberal” less as a party label than as a temperament: an orientation toward hope, reform, and the belief that human affairs can be improved. By including “a man or a woman or a child,” it frames liberalism as broadly human rather than elite or technocratic, and it emphasizes continuity across generations. The paired images—“a better day” and “a more tranquil night”—suggest both public progress (daylight, civic life) and private security (night, vulnerability). The closing phrase, “bright, infinite future,” pushes the idea beyond incremental policy toward an expansive moral imagination: liberalism as faith in possibility, creativity, and the unfinished nature of society.