________________________________________________________
"God
commands you to choose
for rulers, ‘just men who will rule in the fear of
God.’”
— Noah Webster
(1758-1843) Father of the Dictionary
&
American Patriot
________________________________________________________
“Let each
citizen remember
at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present
or a
compliment to please an individual--or at least that he ought not so to
do; but
that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for
which
he is accountable to God and his country.”
—
Samuel
Adams (1722–1803) Father of the American Revolution, Patriot
and Statesman
“But the time has come
that
Christians [&
citizens] must
vote for honest men, and take consistent ground in politics.
They must let the world see that the Church will uphold no man in
office who is
known to be a knave, or an adulterer, or a Sabbath-breaker, or a
gambler, or a
drunkard. Such is the spread of intelligence and the facility of
communication
in our country, that every man can know for whom he gives his vote. And
if he
will give his vote only for honest men, the country will be obliged to
have
upright rulers. All parties will be compelled to put up honest men as
candidates. Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But
the
time has come when they must act differently. ....
"God
cannot sustain this free
and blessed country, which we love and pray for, unless the Church will
take
right ground. Politics are a part of a religion in such a country as
this, and
Christians [&
citizens] must
do their duty to the country as a part of their duty to God. It
seems sometimes as if the foundations of the nation are becoming
rotten, and
Christians seem to act as if they think God does not see what they do
in
politics. But I tell you He does see it, and He will bless or curse
this
nation, according to the course they take."
— Reverend Charles G. Finney
(1792-1792) Minister in the Second Great Awakening.
“It
is not
easy to determine who are the more criminal. They who would make their
way to places
of power and trust by indirect means, or they who have so little
concern for
the welfare of their country as to harken to them. No civil rulers are
to be
obeyed when they enjoin things that are inconsistent with the commands
of God: All
such disobedience is lawful and glorious.”
— Jonathan
Mayew (1720-1766) Preacher in
The
First Great Spiritual Awakening
"Neither
the wisest
constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness
of a
people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the
truest friend
to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and
who, so
far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be
chosen into
any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man. We
must not
conclude merely upon a man's haranguing upon liberty, and using the
charming
sound, that he is fit to be trusted with the liberties of his
country.”
—
Samuel
Adams (1722–1803) Father of the American Revolution, Patriot
and Statesman
"To God and posterity
you are accountable for your rights and your rulers. See that you
preserve them
inviolate and transmit them to posterity unimpaired. Let not your
children have
reason to curse you for giving up those rights, and prostrating those
institutions which our fathers delivered to you."
— Reverend Matthias Burnet (1749-1806)
Minister in the Second Great Awakening.
“Let
me …warn you in the
most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party
…[it’s]
common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to
make it
the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
…It
agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms,
kindles
the animosity of one part against another,
…It opens the door to foreign
influence and corruption, which finds a
facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of
party
passions. …in governments purely elective, it is a spirit
not to be encouraged.”
—
George
Washington (1732-1799) Father of the Country, 1st President of the United
States
“When
a citizen gives his
suffrage [vote] to a man of known immorality he abuses his trust; he
sacrifices
not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor, he betrays the
interest of
his country.”
— Noah Webster
(1758-1843) Father
of the Dictionary
& American Patriot
“If
ever time should come,
when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in
Government, our
country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its
ruin.”
—
Samuel
Adams (1722–1803) Father of the American Revolution, Patriot
and Statesman
“We must not
let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election
between
economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. If we run into such
debt, as
that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries
and our
comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our calling and our
creeds...[we will] have no time to think, no means of calling our
miss-managers
to account but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to
rivet their
chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers. …And this is
the tendency of all
human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a
precedent for[ another] ...till the bulk of society is reduced to be
mere
automatons of misery... And the fore-horse of this frightful team is
public
debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and
oppression.”
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd President of the U. S.
“A
patriot without religion
in my estimation is as great a paradox as an honest Man without the
fear of
God. Is it possible that he whom no moral obligations binds, can have
any real
good will towards men? Can he be a patriot who, by an openly vicious
conduct,
is undermining the very bonds of society? ... The Scriptures tell us
‘righteousness exalteth a nation.’”
—
Abigail
Adams (1744-1818)
Wife of John Adams, Mother & Patriot
“When you become entitled to
exercise the
right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind
that God
commands you to choose for rulers, just men who will rule in the fear
of God.
The preservation of [our] republican government depends on the faithful
discharge of this Duty; if the citizens neglect their Duty and place
unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws
will be
made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes;
corrupt
or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public
revenues
will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will
be
violated or disregarded.”
— Noah Webster (1758-1843) Father
of the Dictionary & American Patriot
“Only a virtuous
people are
capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they
have more
need of masters.” (and today we need more masters)
—
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Statesman, Scientist, Inventor, Printer and Philosopher
“A good moral
character is
the first essential in a man ...”
—
George
Washington (1732-1799) Father of the Country, 1st President of the United
States
"If men of
wisdom and knowledge, of moderation
and temperance, of patience, fortitude and perseverance, of sobriety
and true
republican simplicity of manners, of zeal for the honour of the Supreme
Being
and the welfare of the commonwealth; if men possessed of these other
excellent
qualities are chosen to fill the seats of government, we may expect
that our
affairs will rest on a solid and permanent foundation."
—
Samuel
Adams (1722–1803) Father of the American Revolution, Patriot
and Statesman
“I
go on this great
republican principle, that the people
will have virtue and
intelligence to select men of virtue
and wisdom. Is there no virtue among us? If there is
not, we are in a wretched situation. No
theoretical checks, no form of
government, can
render us secure. To
suppose
that any form of government will secure liberty or
happiness without
any virtue in the people,
is a chimerical (imaginary;
fanciful or vainly conceived) idea.
If there be sufficient virtue and
intelligence in
the community, it will be
exercised in the
selection of these men; so that we do not depend on their virtue, or put confidence in our
rulers, but in the people
who
are to choose them.”
— James Madison (1751-1836) Father of the
Constitution, 4th President of the United States
"Of
those men who have
overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun
their
career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing
demagogues and
ending tyrants."
— Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) Lawyer, Secretary of the
Treasury &
Secretary of State
“But
still the people
themselves must be the chief support of liberty. While the great body
of the
freeholders (voters) are acquainted with the duties which they owe to
their
God, to themselves, and to men, remain free. But if ignorance and
depravity should
prevail, they will inevitably lead to slavery and ruin.”
—
Samuel
Huntington (1731-1731) Founding
Father, patriot and statesman
"In
selecting men for office,
let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or
denomination of
the candidate—look to his character as a man of known
principle, of tried
integrity, and undoubted ability for the office.
It
is alledged by men of
loose principles, or defective views on the subject, that religion and
morality
are not necessary or important qualifications for political stations.
But the
Scriptures teach a different doctrine. They direct that rulers should
be men who
rule in the fear of God, able men, such as fear God, men of truth,
hating
covetousness. But if we had no divine instruction on the subject, our
own
interest would demand of us a strict observance of the principle of
these
injunctions. And it is to the neglect of this rule of conduct in our
citizens,
that we must ascribe the multiplied frauds, breaches of trust,
peculations and
embezzlements of public property which astonish even ourselves; which
tarnish
the character of our country; which disgrace a republican government;
and
which will tend to reconcile men to monarchy in other countries and
even in our
own.
When
a citizen gives his
suffrage [vote] to a man of known immorality, he abuses his trust; he
sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor; he
betrays the
interest of his country. Nor is it of slight importance, that men
elected to office
should be able men, men of talents equal to their stations, men of
mature age,
experience, and judgment; men of firmness and impartiality. This is
particularly true with regard to men who constitute tribunals of
justice—the
main bulwark of our rights—the citadel that maintains the
last struggle of
freedom against the inroads of corruption and tyranny. In this citadel
should
be stationed no raw, inexperienced soldier, no weak temporizing
defender, who
will obsequiously bend to power, or parley with corruption.
One
of the surest tests of a
man's real worth, is the esteem and confidence of those who have long
known
him, and his conduct in domestic and social life. It may be held as
generally
true, that respect spontaneously attaches itself to real worth; and
the man of
respectable virtues, never has occasion to run after respect. Whenever
a man is
known to seek promotion by intrigue, by temporizing, or by resorting to
the haunts
of vulgarity and vice for support, it may be inferred, with moral
certainty,
that he is not a man of real respectability, nor is he entitled to
public
confidence. As a general rule, it may be affirmed, that the man who
never
intrigues for office, may be most safely intrusted with office; for the
same
noble qualities, his pride, or his integrity and sense of dignity,
which make
him disdain the mean arts of flattery and intrigue, will restrain him
from
debasing himself by betraying his trust. Such a man can not desire
promotion,
unless he receives it from the respectable part of the community; for
he
considers no other promotion to be honorable."
— Noah Webster
(1758-1843) Father
of the Dictionary
& American Patriot
"The
Americans are the first
people whom heaven has favored with an opportunity of deliberating
upon, and
choosing the forms of government under which they should live;
—all other
constitutions have derived their existence from violence or accidental
circumstances, ...Your life, your liberties, your property, will be at
the
disposal of your Creator and yourselves. You will know no power but
such as you
will create; no authority unless derived from your grant; no laws, but
such as
acquired all their obligations from your consent. ...Adequate security
is also
given to the rights of conscience and private judgment. They are, by
nature,
subject to no control but that of the Deity and in that free situation
they are
now left. Every man is permitted to consider, to adore and to worship
his
creator in the manner most agreeable to his conscience. No opinions are
dictated; no rules of faith prescribed; no preference given to one sect
[of
Christianity over] to the prejudice of others.
The
constitution, however,
has wisely declared, that the “liberty of conscience thereby
granted shall not
be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify
practices
inconsistent with the peace or safety of the State.” In a
word, the convention
by whom that constitution was formed were of opinion that the gospel of
Christ,
like the ark of God, would not fall, though unsupported by the arm of
flesh;
and happy would it be for mankind if that opinion prevailed more
generally.
...from the people it must receive its spirit, and by them be
quickened, Let
virtue, honor, the love of liberty and of science be, and remain, the
soul of
this constitution, and it will become the source of great and extensive
happiness to this and future generations. Vice, ignorance, and want of
vigilance, will be the only enemies able to destroy it. Against these
provide,
and, of these, be forever jealous. Every member of the state, ought
diligently
to read and study the constitution of his country, and teach the rising
generation to be free. By knowing their rights [God given], they [you
the
voter] will sooner perceive when they are violated, and be the better
prepared
to defend and assert them.”
— John Jay (1745-1829),
Founding Father, Patriot, Statesman and First Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court
“Democracy
is two wolves and
a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty
is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!”
—
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Statesman, Scientist, Inventor, Printer and Philosopher
“Make
yourself sheep, and
the wolves will eat you."
—
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Statesman, Scientist, Inventor, Printer and Philosopher
“There must be
religion.
When that ligament is torn, society is disjointed and its members
perish. The
nation is exposed to foreign violence and domestic convulsion. Vicious
rulers,
chosen by vicious people, turn back the current of corruption to its
source.
Placed in a situation where they can exercise authority for their own
emolument, they betray their trust. They take bribes. They sell
statutes and
decrees. They sell honor and office. They sell their conscience. They
sell
their country. . . . But the most important of all lessons is, the
denunciation
of ruin to every state that rejects the precepts of religion. Those
nations are
doomed to death who bury, in the corruption of criminal desire, the
awful sense
of an existing God, cast off the consoling hope of immortality, and
seek refuge
from despair in the dreariness of annihilation. Terrible, irrevocable
doom!
loudly pronounced, frequently repeated, strongly exemplified in the
sacred
writings, and fully confirmed by the long record of time. It is the
clue which
leads through the intricacies of universal history. It is the principle
of all
sound political science.”
—
Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816) Statesman, Diplomat, writer of the final
draft
of the Constitution
"To
take away this right is
to reduce a man to slavery, for slavery consists in being subject to
the will
of another, and he that has not a vote in the election of
representatives is in
this case. The proposal therefore to disfranchise any class of men is
as
criminal as the proposal to take away property. When
we speak of right we
ought always to unite with it the idea of duties; rights become duties
by
reciprocity. The right which I enjoy becomes my duty to guarantee it to
another,
and he to me; and those who violate the duty justly incur a forfeiture
of the right."
— Thomas Paine (1736-1809) Patriot, Author &
Pamphleteer
"Guard
with jealous attention
the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel.
Unfortunately,
nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that
force,
you are inevitably ruined."
— Patrick Henry (1736-1799)
Patriot, Lawyer and Orator
"National
defense is one of the cardinal
duties of a statesman, and that there is an obligation to perform such
a duty
absolutely irrespective of party politics or factional
differences."
— John
Adams (1797-1801) Second President of the United States
and Patriot
"It is a
misfortune incident to republican
government, though in a less degree than to other governments, that
those who
administer it, may forget their obligations to their constituents, and
prove
unfaithful to their important trust."
— James
Madison (1751-1836) Father of the Constitution, 4th President of the United States
"A nation which can
prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one!"
—
Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) Lawyer, Secretary of the
Treasury &
Secretary of State
“When
the people find they
can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the
republic.”
—
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Statesman, Scientist, Inventor, Printer and Philosopher
“Governments,
like clocks,
go from the motion men give them ; and as Governments are made and
moved by
men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore governments rather
depend upon
men than men upon governments. Let men be good [virtue & fear
of God] and
the government cannot be bad; if it be ill, they will cure it. But, if
men be
bad, let the government be ever so good, they will endeavor to warp and
spoil
it to their turn.”
—
William Penn (1644-1718)
Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania
“Bad
men cannot make good
citizens. It is impossible that a nation of inlldcls or idolaters
should be a
nation of freemen. It is when a people forget God, that tyrants forge
their
chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is
incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of
liberty, can
be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice,
moderation,
temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to
fundamental
principles.”
—
Patrick Henry (1736-1799)
Patriot, Lawyer and Orator
“There
is danger from all
men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man
living
with power to endanger the public liberty.”
— John
Adams (1797-1801) Second President of the United States
and Patriot
“There
are virtues &
vices which are properly called political. ‘Corruption,
dishonesty to ones country
luxury and extravagance tend to the ruin of states.’ The
opposite virtues tend
to their establishment. But ‘there is a connection between
vices as well as virtues
and one opens the door for the entrance of another.’
Therefore ‘wise and able politicians
will guard against other vices,’ and be attentive to promote
every virtue. He who
is void of virtuous attachments in private life, is, or very soon will
be void of
all regard for his country. There is seldom an instance of a man guilty
of
betraying his country, who had not before lost the feeling of moral
obligations
in his private connections. …There are other things which I
humbly conceive
require and therefore I trust will have the most serious consideration
of the government.
We have heretofore complained, and I think justly, that bad men have
too often
found their way into places of public trust. Nothing is more essential
to the establishment
of manners in a state than that all persons employed in places of power
and trust
be Men of unexceptionable characters. The public cannot be too curious
concerning the characters of public.”
—
Samuel
Adams (1722–1803) Father of the American Revolution, Patriot
and Statesman
“I go
on this great republican principle, that the
people will have virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and
wisdom. Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are
in a
wretched situation. No theoretical checks-no form of
government can render
us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty
or
happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea. If
there be
sufficient virtue and intelligence in the community, it will be
exercised in
the selection of these men. So that we do not depend on their
virtue, or
put confidence in our rulers, but in the people who are to choose
them.”
— James
Madison (1751-1836) Father of the Constitution, 4th President of the United States
"Statesmen, my
dear Sir, may plan and speculate for
liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the
principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free
constitution is
pure virtue; and if this cannot be inspired into our people in a
greater
measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the
forms of
government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty. They will only
exchange
tyrants and tyrannies."
—
John
Adams (1797-1801) Second President of the United States
and Patriot
“Republics
are created by the
virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall,
when the
wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be
honest, and
the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order
to
betray them.”
— Joseph Story
(1779-1845) Lawyer,
Supreme Court Justice & influential
commentators on the U.S. Constitution
“Always
vote for principle, though you may vote
alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is
never lost.”
—
John Quincy Adams,
(1767-1848) 6th
President of the United States
"History affords us
many instances of the ruin of states, by the prosecution of measures
ill suited
to the temper and genius of their people. The ordaining of laws in
favor of one
part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is
certainly
the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of
protection,
rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to,
and
ought to enjoy."
—
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Statesman, Scientist, Inventor, Printer and Philosopher
"Every new regulation
concerning commerce or revenue; or in any manner affecting the value of
the
different species of property, presents a new harvest to those who
watch the
change and can trace its consequences; a harvest reared not by
themselves but
by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow citizens. This
is a
state of things in which it may be said with some truth that laws are
made for
the few not for the many."
—
Federalist No. 62
"It would reduce the
whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress
with power
to do whatever would be for the good of the United States;
and as they would be
the sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do
whatever
evil they please. Certainly no such universal power was meant to be
given them.
It [the Constitution] was intended to lace them up straightly within
the
enumerated powers and those without which, as means, these powers could
not be
carried into effect."
— Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Third President of the United States
"It is a very
great mistake to imagine that
the object of loyalty is the authority and interest of one individual
man,
however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular
actions."
—
Samuel
Adams (1722–1803) Father of the American Revolution, Patriot
and Statesman
"I have
alternately been called an aristocrat and a democrat. I am neither. I
am a Christocrat.
… He alone
who created and redeemed man
is qualified to govern
him.”
— Benjamin
Rush (1745-1813) Founding Father& signer of the Declaration of
Independence
“Government is not
reason,
it is not eloquence, it is force; like a fire, a troublesome servant
and a
fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible
action.”
— George Washington
(1732-1799) Father of the Country, 1st President of the United States
“The
aim of
every political constitution is, or ought to be, first, to obtain for
rulers
men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the
common
good of the society; and, in the next place, to take the most effectual
precautions for keeping them virtuous, whilst they continue to hold
their
public trust. The elective mode of obtaining rulers, is the
characteristic
policy of republican government. The means relied on in this form of
government
for preventing their degeneracy, are numerous and various. The most
effectual
one, is such a limitation of the term of appointments, as will maintain
a
proper responsibility to the people.”
—
James Madison (1751-1836) Father of the Constitution, 4th President of
the
United States
"Nip the shoots of arbitrary
power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the
liberties of any
people. When the people give way, their deceivers, betrayers and
destroyers
press upon them so fast that there is no resisting afterwards. The
nature of
the encroachments is to, grow every day more encroaching; like a
cancer, it
eats faster and faster every hour."
—
John
Adams (1797-1801) Second President of the United States
and Patriot
"Nothing is more
essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all
persons
employed in places of power and trust must be men of unexceptionable
characters."
—
Samuel
Adams (1722–1803) Father of the American Revolution, Patriot
and Statesman
"Of
all the dispositions
and habits, which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality
are indispensable
supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who
should
labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest
props of
the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the
pious man,
ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all
their
connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked,
where is
the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of
religious
obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation
in cof justice?
And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be
maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence
of
refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience
both
forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of
religious principle.”
—
George
Washington (1732-1799) Father of the Country, 1st President of the United
States
“Nothing can be more
unfair
and impolitic than to substitute for argument an indiscriminate and
uubounded
jealousy with which all reasoning must be vain. The sincere friends of
liberty,
who give themselves up to the extravagances of this passion, inflict
the most
serious injury upon their own cause. As there is a degree of depravity
in mankind
which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust, so
there are
other qualities in human nature which justify a certain portion of
esteem and
confidence. A republican government presupposes and requires the
existence of
these qualities in a higher degree than any other form; and wholly to
destroy
our reliance on them is to sap all the foundation on which our
liberties must
rest.”
—
James Madison (1751-1836) Father of the Constitution, 4th President of
the
United States
"The republican
principle demands that the
deliberate sense of the community should govern the conduct of those to
whom
they intrust the management of their affairs; but it does not require
an
unqualified complaisance to every sudden breeze of passion or to every
transient impulse which the people may receive from the arts of men,
who
flatter their prejudices to betray their interests."
—
Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) Lawyer, Secretary of the
Treasury &
Secretary of State
"The multiplication of
public offices, increase of expense beyond income, growth and
entailment of a
public debt, are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning
knife."
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd President of the U. S.
“We
have reason to rejoice in the prospect that the
national government, which, by the favor of Divine Providence was
formed by the
common councils, and peaceably established with the common consent of
the people,
will prove a blessing to every denomination of them; to render it such
my best
endeavors shall not be wanting. Government being among other purposes
instituted to protect the persons and consciences of men from
oppression, it
certainly is the duty of the rulers, not only to abstain from it
themselves, but
according to their stations to prevent it in others. The liberty
enjoyed by the
people of these States, of worshipping Almighty God agreeably to their
consciences,
is not only among the choicest blessings, but also of their rights."
—
George
Washington (1732-1799) Father of the Country, 1st President of the United
States
"Acknowledging and adoring an
overruling Providence,
which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness
of man
here and his greater happiness hereafter: with all these blessings,
what more
is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one
thing more,
fellow-citizens—a wise and frugal government, which shall
restrain men from injuring
one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own
pursuits of industry
and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread
it has
earned. This is the sum of good government…"
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd
President of the U. S.
“No
man can
well doubt the propriety of placing a president of the United States
under the most solemn obligations to preserve, protect, and defend the
constitution.
It is a suitable pledge of his fidelity and responsibility to his
country; and
creates upon his conscience a deep sense of duty, by an appeal, at once
in the
presence of God and man, to the most sacred and solemn sanctions which
can operate
upon the human mind.”
— Joseph
Story (1779-1845) Lawyer, Supreme Court Justice & influential
commentators
on the U.S. Constitution
“It is in the interest
of tyrants
to reduce the people to ignorance and vice. For they cannot live in any
country
where virtue and knowledge prevail. The religion and public liberty of
a people
are intimately connected; their interests are interwoven, they cannot
subsist
separately; and therefore they rise and fall together. For this reason,
it is
always observable, that those who are combin'd to destroy the people's
liberties,
practice every art to poison their morals.”
— Samuel Adams (1722–1803)
Father of the American Revolution, Patriot and Statesman
"Every man who
loves peace, every man who
loves his country, every man who loves liberty ought to have it ever
before his
eyes that he may cherish in his heart a due attachment to the Union of
America
and be able to set a due value on the means of preserving it."
— James
Madison (1751-1836) Father of the Constitution, 4th President of the United States
"I think we have more
machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on
the
labor of the industrious."
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd
President of the U. S.
"Let
the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance,
bought
by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and
capacity, if
wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their
latest
posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment
of
liberty, property, religion, and independence. The structure has been
erected
by architects of consummate skill and fidelity; its foundations are
solid; its
compartments are beautiful as well as useful; its arrangements are full
of
wisdom and order; and its defenses are impregnable from
without. It has been
reared for immortality, if the work of man may aspire to such a
title. It
may, nevertheless, perish in an hour by the folly, or corruption, or
negligence
of its only keepers, THE PEOPLE.”
— Joseph
Story (1779-1845) Lawyer, Supreme Court Justice & influential
commentators
on the U.S. Constitution
"It is to me a
new and consolatory proof
that wherever the people are well-informed they can be trusted with
their own
government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their
notice,
they may be relied on to set them to rights."
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd
President of the U. S.
“A
large portion of our citizens, who will not believe, even on
the evidence of facts, that any public evils exist, or are impending.
They
deride the apprehensions of those who foresee, that licentiousness will
prove,
as it ever has proved, fatal to liberty.”
— Fisher
Ames (1758-1808) Founding Father and framer of the First Amendment to
the
Constitution
"All men having power ought
to be mistrusted."
— James Madison (1751-1836) Father of the
Constitution, 4th President of the United States
"Laws are made for men
of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the
ordinary
rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in
metaphysical
subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at
pleasure."
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd
President of the U. S.
"It will be of little
avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice,
if the
laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that
they
cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are
promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man who knows
what the
law is today can guess what it will be to-morrow."
—
Federalist
No. 62
"Good government generally
begins in the family, and if the moral character of a people once
degenerates,
their political character must soon follow. A friendly consideration of
our fellow-citizens,
who by our free choice become the public servants, and manage the
affairs of our
common country, is but a reasonable return for their diligence and care
in our service.
The most enlightened and
zealous of our public servants can do little without the exertions of
private
citizens to perfect what they do but form as it were in embryo. The
highest
officers of our government are but the first servants of the people and
always
in their power: they have, therefore, a just claim to a fair and candid
experiment of the plans they form and the laws they enact for the
public weal.
Too much should not be expected from them; they are but men and of like
passions and of like infirmities with ourselves; they are liable to
err, though
exercising the purest motives and best abilities required for the
purpose.
Times and circumstances may
change and accidents intervene to disappoint the wisest measures.
Mistaken and
wicked men (who cannot live but in troubled waters) are often laboring
with
indefatigable zeal, which sometimes proves but too successful, to sour
our minds
and derange the best-formed systems. Plausible pretensions and
censorious
insinuations are always at hand to transfer the deadly poison of
jealousy by which the best citizens may for a time be deceived.
These
considerations should
lead to an attentive solicitude to keep the pure, unadulterated
principles of our
constitution always in view; to be religiously careful in our choice of
public officers;
and as they are again in oar power at very. short periods lend not too
easily a
patient ear to every invidious insinuation or improbable story, but
prudently
mark the effects of their public measures and judge of the tree by its
fruits."
— Elias Boudinot
(1740–1821) Founding
Father, statesman and patriot
“While
we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers,
we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of
religion. To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our
highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian."
— George Washington
(1732-1799) Father of the Country, 1st President of the United States
“Be companions of them
that fear
God. Esteem them always most highly, and shun, as a contagious
pestilence, the
society not only of loose persons, but of those especially whom you
perceive to
be infected with the principles of infidelity, or enemies to the power
of
religion. ...But be especially careful to
avoid those who are enemies to vital piety, who do not pretend to speak
directly against religion, but give every vile name they can think of
to all
who seem to be in earnest on that subject, and vilify the exercises of
religion,
under the names of whining, cant, grimace, and hypocrify. These are
often
unhappily successful in making some incautious persons ashamed of their
Redeemer's
name, his truths, his laws, his people, and his cross.”
— John Witherspoon (1722-1794) Educator, Economist, Minister,
Writer &
Founding Father
“It
gives me real concern to
observe … that you should think it necessary to distinguish
between my personal
and public character, and confine your esteem to the former.“
—
George Washington
(1732-1799) Father of the Country, 1st President of the United States
."It
is against such designs,
whatever disguise the actors may assume, that you have especially to
guard
yourselves. You have the highest of human trusts committed to your
care. Providence
has showered
on this favored land blessings without number, and has chosen you, as
the
guardians of freedom, to preserve it for the benefit of the human race.
May He,
who holds in his hands the destinies of nations, make you worthy of the
favors
he has bestowed, and enable you, with pure hearts, and pure hands, and
sleepless vigilance, to guard and defend to the end of time the great
charge he
has committed to your keeping.
"Cherish, therefore,
the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too
severe
upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them. If once they
become
inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress, and
Assemblies,
Judges, and Governors, shall all become wolves.”
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd President of the U. S.
"In the first place, it
is to be remembered, that the general government is not to be charged
with the
whole power of making and administering laws. Its jurisdiction is
limited to
certain enumerated objects, which concern all the members of the
republic, but
which are not to be attained by the separate provisions of any."
— James Madison (1751-1836) Father of the
Constitution, 4th President of the United States
“It is a great mistake
to suppose
that the paper [Constitution] we are to propose will govern the United States.
It
is the men whom it will bring into the government, and interest in
maintaining
it, that are to govern them. The paper will only mark out the mode and
the form.”
— John
Francis Mercer (1759–1821) Patriot, Maryland
delegate to the Constructional Convention (opposed a strong centralized
government, walked out before the convention had ended)
My own race is nearly run;
advanced age and failing health warn me that before long I must pass
beyond the
reach of human events, and cease to feel the vicissitudes of human
affairs. I
thank God that my life has been spent in a land of liberty, and that he
has
given me a heart to love my country with the affection of a son. And
filled with
gratitude for your constant and unwavering kindness, I bid you a last
and
affectionate farewell."
—
Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) Seventh
President of the United States
“I
apprehend
no danger to our country from a foreign foe. … Our
destruction, should it come at
all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people
to the concerns
of their government—from their carelessness and
negligence—I must confess that
I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a
confidence
in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their
conduct.—that
in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the
instruments of their own undoing. Make them intelligent, and they will
be
vigilant—give them the means of detecting the wrong, and they
will apply the remedy.”
— Daniel Webster (1782-1852) Author, Lawyer and Patriot
“Elections belong to
the
people. It is their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the
fire and
burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their
blisters.”
—
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
Sixteenth President of the United States
“The
people are responsible
for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant,
reckless, and
corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and
corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the
people
demand these high qualities. ... If the next centennial does not find
us a
great nation... it will be because those who represent the enterprise,
the
culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the
political
forces.”
—
James Garfield
(1831-1881) Twentieth president of the United States
“You
[the voter] have especially to guard
yourselves.
You have the highest of human trust committed to your care. Providence
has showered on this favored land blessings without number and has
chosen you as the guardian of freedom to preserve it for the benefit of
the human race. May He who holds in his hands the destinies of nations
make you worthy of the favors He has bestowed and enable you, with pure
hearts and pure hands and sleepless vigilance, to guard and defend to
to the end of time the great charge he has committed to your
keeping.”
— Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) 7th President of the United
States
“Our
ancestors established their system of government on morality and
religious
sentiment. Moral habits, they believed, cannot safely be trusted on any
other
foundation than religious principle, nor any government be secure which
is not
supported by moral habits. Living under the heavenly light of
revelation, they hoped
to find all the social dispositions, all the duties which men owe to
each other
and to society, enforced and performed. Whatever makes men good
Christians,
makes them good citizens. Our fathers came here to enjoy their religion
free
and unmolested; and, at the end of two centuries, there is nothing upon
which
we can pronounce more confidently, nothing of which we can express a
more deep
and earnest conviction, than of the inestimable importance of that
religion to
man, both in regard to this life and that which is to come.
If the
blessings of our political and social condition have not been too
highly
estimated, we cannot well overrate the responsibility and duty which
they impose
upon us. We hold these institutions of government, religion, and
learning, to
be transmitted, as well as enjoyed. We are in the line of conveyance,
through
which whatever has been obtained by the spirit and efforts of our
ancestors is
to be communicated to our children.
We are
bound to maintain public liberty, and, by the example of our own
systems, to
convince the world that order and law, religion and morality, the
rights of
conscience, the rights of persons, and the rights of property, may all
be
preserved and secured, in the most perfect manner, by a government
entirely and
purely elective. If we fail in this, our disaster will be significant,
and will
furnish an argument, stronger than has yet been found, in support of
those
opinions which maintain that government can rest safely on nothing but
power
and coercion.“
— Daniel
Webster (1782-1852) Author, Lawyer and Patriot
"No
man can well doubt
the propriety of placing a president of the United States
under the most solemn
obligations to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution."
— Joseph Story (1779-1845)
Lawyer, Supreme Court Justice & influential commentators on the
U.S.
Constitution
“Every
voter ought not merely to vote, but to vote
under the inspiration of a high purpose to serve the nation. It has
been
calculated that in most elections only about half of them entitled to
vote
actually exercise their franchise. What is worse, a considerable part
of those
who neglect to vote do it because of a curious assumption of
superiority to
this elementary duty of the citizen. They presume to be rather too
good, too
exclusive, to soil their hands with the work of politics... Popular
government
is facing one of the difficult phases of the perpetual trial to which
it always
has been and always will be subjected. It needs the support of every
element of
patriotism, intelligence and capacity that can be summoned.”
—
Calvin
Coolidge (1872-1933) 30th President of the United States
“We
cannot afford to differ on the question of
honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure. Honesty is not
so much
a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the
public. Unless
a man is honest, we have no right to keep him in public life; it
matters not
how brilliant his capacity.”
—
Theodore
Roosevelt (1901-1909) 26th President of the United States
"A vote is like a
rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user."
— Theodore Roosevelt
(1901-1909) 26th President of the United States
“The future of this
republic
is in the hands of the American voter.”
— Dwight
D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)
Supreme Commander during WWII & 34th President of U.S.
“The fear of the LORD
is the
beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and
instruction.”
— Proverbs 1:7 RSV
“The fool says in his
heart,
"There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there
is none that does good. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the
children of
men, to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God. They
have
all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt; there is none that does
good, no,
not one. Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people
as they
eat bread, and do not call upon the LORD? There they shall be in great
terror,
for God is with the generation of the righteous.”
— Psalms 14:1-5 RSV
“Those who wish well
to the
State ought to choose to places of trust men of inward principle,
justified by
exemplary conversation. Is it reasonable to expect wisdom from the
ignorant? fidelity from the profligate?
assiduity and
application to public business from men of a dissipated life?
Is it
reasonable to commit the management of public revenue to one who hath
wasted
his own patrimony? Those, therefore, who pay no regard to
religion and
sobriety in the persons whom they send to the legislature of any State
are
guilty of the greatest absurdity and will soon pay dear for their
folly.”
— John Witherspoon (1722-1794) Educator, Economist, Minister,
Writer &
Founding Father
“In offering to you,
my
countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare
not hope
they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that
they will
control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from
running
the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations.
… moderate the
fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign
intrigue, to guard
against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a
full
recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been
dictated.”
—
George
Washington (1732-1799) Father of the Country, 1st President of the United
States
“What is government
itself
but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were
angels, no government
would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor
internal
controls on government would be necessary.”
— James
Madison (1751-1836) Father of the Constitution, 4th President of the United States
"To compel a
man to furnish funds for the
propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and
tyrannical."
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd President of the U. S.
"The essence of
Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands,
will ever
be liable to abuse."
—
James
Madison (1751-1836) Father of the Constitution, 4th President of the United States
“Thank God! we are in
the full
enjoyment of all these privileges. But can we be taught to prize them
too much?
or how can we prize them equal to their value, if we do not know their
intrinsic worth, and that they are not a gift bestowed upon us by other
men, but
a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature?
Since they are our right,
let us be vigilant to preserve them uninfringed, and free from
encroachments. If
animosities arise, and we should be obliged to resort to party, let
each of us
range himself on the side which unfurls the ensigns of public good.
Faction
will then vanish, which, if not timely suppressed, may overturn the
balance,
the palladium of liberty, and crush us under its ruins.”
— Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) Statesman, Scientist, Inventor, Printer and Philosopher
“Though,
when a people shall
have become incapable of governing themselves and fit for a master, it
is of little
consequence from what quarter he comes.”
—
George
Washington (1732-1799) Father of the Country, 1st President of the United
States
"In times of
difficulty and trial it is in the
man of piety and inward principle, that we may expect to find the
uncorrupted
patriot, the useful citizen, and the invincible soldier.God grant that
in
America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable, and that
the unjust
attempts to destroy the one, may in the issue tend to the support and
establishment of both.”
—
John Witherspoon (1722-1794)
Educator, Economist, Minister, Writer & Founding Father
“I pray Heaven to
bestow the
best of blessings on this House, and all that shall hereafter inhabit
it. May none
but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.”
—
John
Adams (1797-1801) Second President of the United States
and Patriot
“Those who would give
up
essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither
liberty
nor safety.”
— Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Statesman, Scientist, Inventor, Printer and Philosopher
"If the present
Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to
which
the people send 150 lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything,
yield
nothing, & talk by the hour? That 150 lawyers should do
business together
ought not to be expected."
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd President of the U. S.
“The
aim of every political
constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who
possess
most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of
the
society; and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions
for
keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.
The
elective mode of obtaining rulers is the characteristic policy of
republican
government. The means relied on in this form of government for
preventing their
degeneracy are numerous and various. The most effectual one, is such a
limitation of the term of appointments as will maintain a proper
responsibility
to the people."
— James Madison (1751-1836)
Father of the Constitution, 4th President of the United
States
"Were we directed from Washington
when to sow,
and when to reap, we should soon want bread."
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd President of the U. S.
"Men will either be
governed by God or ruled by tyrants."
— William Penn (1644-1718)
Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania
"Should things go wrong
at any time, the people will set them to rights by the peaceable
exercise of
their elective rights."
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd President of the U. S.
“Government, even in
its
best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable
one; for
when we suffer or are exposed to the same miseries by a government,
which we
might expect in a country without government, our calamity is
heightened by
reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.”
— Thomas Paine (1736-1809) Patriot, Author &
Pamphleteer
"A nation of well informed
men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has
given them
cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny
begins."
— Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Statesman, Scientist, Inventor, Printer and Philosopher
"Those who are vested
with civil authority ought also with much care to promote religion and
good
morals among all under their government. If we give credit to the Holy
Scriptures, he that ruleth must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
Those who
wish well to the State ought to choose to places of trust men of inward
principle, justified by exemplary conversation. Those who pay no regard
to
religion and sobriety, in the persons whom they send to the legislature
of any
state, will soon pay dearly for their folly. ... the people in general
ought to
have regard to the moral character of those whom they invest with
authority,
either in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches.”
— John Witherspoon (1722-1794) Educator, Economist, Minister,
Writer &
Founding Father
“Preserve your
government
with the utmost attention and solicitude, for it is the remarkable gift
of
heaven. From year to year be careful in the choice of your
representatives, and
all the higher powers of government. Fix your eyes upon men of good
understanding, and known honesty; men of knowledge, improved by
experience; men
who fear God, and hate covetousness; who love truth and righteousness,
and
sincerely wish the public welfare. Beware of such as are cunning rather
than
wise; who prefer their own interest to every thing; whose judgment is
partial,
or fickle; and whom you would not willingly trust with your own private
interests. When meetings are called for the choice of your rulers, do
not
carelessly neglect them, or give your votes with indifference, just as
any
party may persuade, or a sordid treat tempt you; but act with serious
deliberation and judgment, as in a most important matter, and let the
faithful
of the land serve you.
Let not
men openly
irreligious and immoral become your legislators; for how can you expect
good
laws to be made by men who have no fear of God before their eyes, and
who
boldly trample on the authority of his commands? And will not the
example of
their impiety and immorality defeat the efficacy of the best laws which
can be
made in favour of religion and virtue? If the legislative body are
corrupt, you
will soon have bad men for counsellors, corrupt judges, unqualified
justices,
and officers in every department who will dishonor their stations; the
consequence of which will be murmurs and complaints from every quarter.
Let a
superior character point out the man who is to be your head; for much
depends
on his inspection and care of public affairs and the influence of his
judgment,
advice and conduct, although his power is circumscribed: in this choice
therefore be always on your guard against parties, and the methods
taken to
make interest for unworthy men, and let distinguished merit always
determine
your vote. And when all places in government are filled with the best
men you
can find, behave yourselves as good subjects; obey the laws; cheerfully
submit to
such taxation as the necessities of the public call for; give tribute
to whom
tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, and honor to
whom
honor, as the gospel commands you.
Never give countenance to
turbulent men, who wish to distinguish themselves, and rise to power,
by
forming combinations and exciting insurrections against government: for
this
can never be the right way to redress real grievances, since you may
not only
prefer complaints and petitions to the court, but have the very
authority,
which you think has been misused, in your own power, and may very
shortly place
it in other hands.”
— Samuel
Langdon (1723-1797) –
Thirteenth president of Harvard
University,
delegate to the New Hampshire
convention that adopted the
Constitution
“When the people find
they
can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the
republic.”
— Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) Statesman, Scientist, Inventor, Printer and Philosopher
"The spirit of
1776 is not dead. It has only
been slumbering. The body of the American people is substantially
republican.
But their virtuous feelings have been played on by some fact with more
fiction;
they have been the dupes of artful maneuvers, and made for a moment to
be willing
instruments in forging chains for themselves. But times and truth
dissipated
the delusion, and opened their eyes."
— Thomas
Jefferson, Author of the
Declaration of Independence,
3rd President of the U. S.
"Wisdom and knowledge as
well as virtue diffused generally among the body of the people being
necessary for
the preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on
spreading
the opportunities and advantages of education, in the various parts of
the country,
and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of
the
Legislatures and magistrates…to cherish the interests of
literature, and the
sciences, and all seminaries of learning. …
You have put upon us by your legislation an
immense mass of ignorant voters. They have not wisdom, they have not
knowledge,
some of them even have no virtue, as is the case in every community.
These are
not diffused among them; from the very nature of the case it cannot be;
and yet
how anxiously you guard their rights to go to the polls to make laws
for us and
to regulate our affairs. You have, it may be wisely or unwisely,
excluded them
from the polls in your States. They must have something of this wisdom,
something
of this knowledge, something of this virtue there, before you permit
them to go
to your polls."
— John
Adams (1797-1801)
Second President of the United States
and Patriot
“The structure
[Constitution]
has been erected by architects of consummate skill and fidelity; its
foundations are solid, its compartments are beautiful as well as
useful, its
arrangements are full of wisdom and order, and its defences are
impregnable from
without. It has been reared for immortality, if the work of men may
justly
aspire to such a title. It may nevertheless perish in an hour by the
folly, or corruption,
or negligence of its only keepers, the People. Republics are created by
the virtue,
public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the
wise are banished
from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the
profligate are
rewarded because they flatter the people in order to betray
them.”
—
Joseph Story (1779-1845) Lawyer,
Supreme Court Justice & influential commentators on the U.S.
Constitution
“America
will never be destroyed
from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will
be because
we destroyed ourselves.”
— Abraham Lincoln
(1809–1865) Sixteenth President of the United States
"Our reliance is in the
love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in
the
preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all
men, in
all lands, everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the
seeds of
despotism around your own doors. Familiarize yourselves with the chains
of
bondage, and you are preparing your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed
to
trample on the rights of those around you, you have lost the genius of
your own
independence, and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant
who rises
among you."
— Abraham Lincoln
(1809–1865) Sixteenth President of the United States
“Our
nation will prosper or decline in direct proportion to our selection
of leaders who are guided by the Holy Spirit. If we fail to select
Godly leaders
our destiny will surely be as that of the Roman Empire.”
— Ronald
Reagan (1911-2004) 40th President of the United States
“It
is not our duty to leave wealth to our children:
but it is our duty, to leave liberty to them. No infamy, iniquity, or
cruelty,
can exceed our own, if we, born and educated in a country of freedom,
intitled
to its blessings, and knowing their value, pusillanimously deserting
the post
assigned to us by Divine Providence, surrender succeeding generations
to a
condition of wretchedness, from which no human efforts, in all
probability,
will be sufficient to extricate them; the experience of all states
mournfully
demonstrating to us, that when arbitrary power has been established
over them,
even the wisest and bravest nations, that ever flourished, have, in a
few
years, degenerated into abject and wretched
vassals.”
— John Dickinson
(1732–1808) Patriot,
Founding Father and
lawyer
"On the people,
therefore, of these United States
it depends whether wise men, or fools, good or bad men, shall govern
them;
whether they shall have righteous laws, a faithful administration of
government, and permanent good order, peace, and liberty; or, on the
contrary,
feel insupportable burdens, and see all their affairs run to confusion
and ruin."
—
Samuel
Langdon (1723-1797) –
Thirteenth president of Harvard
University,
delegate to the New Hampshire
convention that adopted the
Constitution
"Excessive taxation ...
will carry reason and reflection to every man's door, and particularly in the
hour of election."
— Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826) Third President of the United States
“Experience
should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the
Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are
naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded
rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment
by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
— Louis D. Brandeis (1856–1941) Former Supreme
Court Justice
"I have been
thinking a lot about these things as I have come to the realization of the
tremendous responsibilities which rest upon me. It is my conviction that the fundamental
trouble with the people of the United States is that they have gotten too far
away from Almighty God. I am bound to believe that in a tumultuous age like
ours the most important and imperative duty is the reconstruction of humanity
to Almighty God."
— Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) 29th President of the United States
"A man who thinks of himself
as belonging to a particular national group in America
has not yet become an
American. And the man who goes among you to trade upon your nationality
is no
worthy son to live under the Stars and Stripes."
—
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) 28th President of the United States
"The issues which today
confront the nation are clearly defined and so fundamental as to
directly
involve the very survival of the Republic. Are we going to preserve the
religious base to our origin, our growth and our progress, or yield to
the
devious assaults of atheistic or other anti-religious forces? Are we
going to
maintain our present course toward State Socialism with Communism just
beyond
or reverse the present trend and regain our hold upon our heritage of
liberty
and freedom? ...
Are
we going to continue to
yield personal liberties and community autonomy to the steady
inexplicable centralization
all political power or restore the Republic to Constitutional
direction, regain
our personal liberties and reassume the individual state’s
primary
responsibility and authority in the conduct of local affairs? Are
we going to permit a
continuing decline in public and private morality or re-establish high
ethical
standards as the means of regaining a diminishing faith in the
integrity of our
public and private institutions?
... In short, is American
life of the future to be characterized by freedom or by servitude,
strength or
weakness? The answer must be clear and unequivocal if we are to avoid
the
pitfalls toward which we are now heading with such certainty. In many
respects
it is not to be found in any dogma of political philosophy but in those
immutable precepts which underlie the Ten Commandments."
— Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) Army General, involved in war
in the Philippines,
World War I, II & Korean War
“I
believe
this nation hungers for a spiritual revival; hungers to once again see
honor
placed above political expediency; to see government once again the
protector
of our liberties, not the distributor of gifts and privilege.
Government should
uphold and not undermine those institutions which are custodians of the
very
values upon which civilization is founded—religion,
education and, above
all, family. Government cannot be clergyman, teacher and patriot. It
[government]
is our servant, beholden to us.”
— Ronald
Reagan (1911-2004) 40th President of the United States
"I am
the true vine,
and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no
fruit, he
takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it
may bear
more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken
to you. Abide
in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless
it
abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the
vine, you
are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that
bears much
fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in
me, he
is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered,
thrown
into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words
abide in you,
ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father
is
glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my
disciples.” (Over time, countries that produce bad
fruit or refuse to serve God's and obey His commandments are cut down
and thrown in the fire)
—
John
15:1-8 RSV
“If we, and our
posterity, shall
be true to the Christian religion, if we and they shall live always in
the fear
of God, and shall respect his commandments, if we, and they, shall
maintain
just, moral sentiments, and such conscientious convictions of duty as
shall
control the heart and life, we may have the highest hopes of the future
fortunes of our country. … It will have no Decline and Full.
It will go on
prospering and to prosper. But, if we and our posterity reject
religious
instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle
with the
injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political
constitution
which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may
overwhelm
us, that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity. Should that
catastrophe happen, let it have no history. Let the horrible narrative
never be
written. Let its fate be like that of the lost books of Livy. which no
human
eye shall ever read, or the missing Pleiad, of which no man can ever
know more,
than that it is lost, and lost for ever!”
—
Daniel
Webster (1782-1852) Author, Lawyer and Patriot
Letters from "A
Farmer"
“A people is traveling
fast
to destruction, when individuals consider their interests as distinct
from
those of the public. Such notions are fatal to their country, and to
themselves. Yet how many are there, so weak and sordid as to think they
perform
all the offices of life, if they earnestly endeavour to increase their
own
wealth, power, and credit, without the least regard for the society,
under the
protection of which they live; who, if they can make an immediate
profit to
themselves, by lending their assistance to those, whose projects
plainly tend
to the injury of their country, rejoice in their dexterity, and believe
themselves entitled to the character of able politicians. Miserable
men! of
whom it is hard to say, whether they ought to be most the objects of
pity or
contempt: but whose opinions are certainly as detestable, as their
practices
are destructive….
Let us
consider our, selves
as men—freemen—Christian
freemen—(following the word of God and Republican
virtues and principles) separated from the rest of the world, and
firmly bound
together by the same rights, interests and dangers. ... for posterity,
to whom,
by the most sacred obligations, we are bound to deliver down the
invaluable
inheritance (of liberty and freedom); ...
You may surely, without
presumption, believe, that Almighty God himself will look down upon
your
righteous contest with gracious approbation. You will be a
“band of brothers,”
cemented by the dearest ties, and strengthened with inconceivable
supplies of
force and constancy, by that sympathetic ardor, which animates good men
[&
women], confederated in a good (holy) cause. Your honor and welfare
will be, as
they now are, most intimately concerned; and besides, you are assigned
by
divine providence, in the appointed order of things, the protectors of
unborn
ages, whose fate depends upon your virtue. Whether they shall arise the
generous and indisputable heirs of the noblest patrimonies, or the
dastardly
and hereditary drudges of imperious task-masters, you (with
God’s assistance)
must determine.…
For my
part, I am resolved
to contend for the liberty delivered down to me by my ancestors; but
whether I
shall do it effectually or not, depends on you, my countrymen. How
little
soever one is able to write, yet when the liberties of one’s
country are
threatened, it is still more difficult to be silent.”
A Duty to
Posterity - “Honor, justice
and humanity
call upon us to hold and to transmit to our posterity, that liberty,
which we
received from our ancestors. It is not our duty to leave wealth to our
children; but it is our duty to leave liberty to them. No infamy,
iniquity, or
cruelty can exceed our own if we, born and educated in a
country of freedom, entitled to its blessings and knowing their value,
pusillanimously [want of courage] deserting the post assigned us by
Divine
Providence, surrender succeeding generations to a condition of
wretchedness
from which no human efforts, in all probability, will be sufficient to
extricate them; the experience of all states mournfully demonstrating
to us
that when arbitrary power has been established over them, even the
wisest and
bravest nations that ever flourished have, in a few years, degenerated
into
abject and wretched vassals.”
—
Letters
from "A
Farmer"
"Unless
virtue guide us our choice must be wrong."
— William Penn (1644-1718) Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania
"One
of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in
this world
are to be cured by legislation."
— Thomas B.
Reed (1839-1902) Speaker of the United
States
House of Representatives, from Maine
"Perhaps you and I have
lived with this miracle too long to be properly appreciative. Freedom
is a
fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from
extinction. It is
not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly
by each
generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known
freedom
and then lost it have never known it again. Knowing this, it is hard to
explain
those who even today would question the people's capacity for
self-rule. Will
they answer this: if no one among us is capable of governing himself,
then who
among us has the capacity to govern someone else?"
— Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
40th President of the United States
Thus says the LORD:
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose
heart
turns away from the LORD. 6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall
not see
any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited
salt land. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is
the
LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by
the
stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green,
and is
not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear
fruit."
— Jeremiah 17: 5-8 RSV
"Nations crumble from within
when the citizenry asks of government those things which the citizenry
might
better provide for itself. ... [I] hope we have once again reminded
people that
man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and
effect here
that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government
expands,
liberty contracts."
—
Ronald
Reagan (1911-2004) 40th President of the United States
“Let no one deceive
you with
empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God
comes upon
the sons of disobedience.”
— Ephesians 5:1-23 RSV
"Moreover
choose able men from all the people,
such as fear God, men who are trustworthy and who hate a bribe; and
place such
men over the people as rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties,
and of tens.”
— Exodus 18:21 RSV
“Woe to those who call
evil
good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness,
who put
bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”
—
Isaiah 5:20 RSV
“When the righteous
are in
authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people
groan.”
—
Proverbs
29:2 RSV
“No government ever
voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched,
never
disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to
eternal life
we'll ever see on this earth!”
— Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)
40th President of the United States
"See
to it
that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit,
according to
human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe,
and not
according to Christ."
—
Colossians
2:8 RSV
_________________________________________________________
Other
Quotes
on Voting
_________________________________________________________
"A democracy is always
temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of
government.
A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters
discover they
can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that
moment
on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most
benefits
from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will
finally
collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a
dictatorship."
—
Alexis de Toqueville (1805-1859) French Author (quote credited)
“The
men
the American people admire the most extravagantly are the most daring
liars;
the men they detest the most violently are those who try to tell them
the
truth.”
— Henry L.
Mencken (1880-1956) American journalist editor & satirist
“The
best
argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the
average voter.”
— Winston
Churchill (1874-1965), British Politician & Leader
“No man's life,
liberty, or
property is safe while the legislature is in session.”
—
Unknown
“Moreover choose able
men
from all the people, such as fear God, men who are trustworthy and who
hate a
bribe; and place such men over the people as rulers of thousands, of
hundreds,
of fifties, and of tens.”
— Exodus 18:21 RSV
"The state
tends to expand in proportion to its
means of existence and to live beyond its means, and these are, in the
last
analysis, nothing but the substance of the people. Woe to the people
that
cannot limit the sphere of action of the state! Freedom, private
enterprise,
wealth, happiness, independence, personal dignity, all
vanish."
— Frederic
Bastiat (1801-1850) French
economist, legislator and writer
“The end of the
matter; all has been
heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty
of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing,
whether
good or evil.”
— Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 RSV
“The fear of man lays
a
snare, but he who trusts in the LORD is safe.”
— Proverbs 29:25 RSV
“You have been
entrusted
with a sacred trust for the stewardship of this country; therefore you
bear
some moral responsibility for the actions and decisions of those
elected on
your behalf.”
— The Author
“So
long as the people do not care to exercise
their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; for tyrants are
active
and ardent, and will devote themselves in the name of any number of
gods,
religious and otherwise, to put shackles upon sleeping men.”
— Voltaire
[François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire] (1694-1778) French
writer, humanist,
essayist & deist
"There is no difference
between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the
same
ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force,
socialism—by vote. It
is merely the difference between murder and suicide."
— Ayn Rand (1905-1982)
Russian born American Novelist and Philosopher (Alice Rosenbaum)
“The
short memories of the American voters is what
keeps our politicians in office.”
— Will
Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
“Under
democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to
prove that
the other party is unfit to rule—and both
commonly succeed, and are right.”
— Henry L.
Mencken (1880-1956) American journalist editor
& satirist
“Thank
God
we're not getting all the government we're paying for.”
— Will
Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
“For that reason among
many,
the United
States
will suffer unless there is placed into your government a group that
fears the
Lord if they cannot love the Lord. They will fear Him and find measures
to stop
the slaughter of the unborn.”
— Our Lady of the Roses,
April 14, 1984
A Democracy:
Three wolves and a sheep voting on dinner.
A Republic: The flock gets to vote for which wolves vote on dinner.
A Constitutional
Republic:
Voting on dinner is expressly
forbidden, and the sheep are armed.
Federal Government: The means by which the sheep will be fooled into
voting for
a Democracy.
— Author unknown
“Democracy
is a form of government that substitutes election by the incompetent
many for
appointment by the corrupt few.”
— George
Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright
"Are you so blind that
you do not recognize the acceleration of sin among you? Murders abound,
thievery, all manner of carnage, destruction of young souls, abortion,
homosexuality, condemned from the beginning of time by the Eternal
Father. Yet
sin has become a way of life. Sin is condoned now, even unto the
highest judge
of your land and your lands throughout the world. As you have sown so
shall you
reap. Sin is death, not only of the spirit, but of the body. Wars are a
punishment for man's sin, his greed, his avarice."
— Our
Lady of the Roses, August 14, 1981
“When God wants to
judge a
nation, He gives them wicked rulers.”
— John Calvin
(1509-1564) French theologian during the Protestant Reformation
“God has ….
99% of the time
done judgements that you will find in the Old Testament, that is he has
used
nations with their weapons of destruction that have had at that point
in time
to do his judgements. …. He will use existing nations with
their arsenal of
weapons to do his judgements.”
— Larry Nassa, Former Dept. of
Defense Employee, Author & Biblical Researcher, Radio Interview
8-30-2003
“God chastises those
he
loves and all through history whether you want to go back to the Old
Testament
or New Testament God has always punished all nations when they go
against God.
When ever mankind drifts away God, pushes them back in line. So, it
isn’t a
matter of saying Ok where has scriptures warned me that if my country
does such
and such. Well it has warned us about morality, basic charity as a
society.
When society differs and goes against God, we a country were supposed
to be a
nation under God have given over to a million abortions a year, we are
accepting homosexuality as a normal life style, our country is pursing
immoral
act with in other nations, to where our country it self has become a
godless
nation. And God himself does not sit back and say oh well let them do
what they
want to do. God is God and God is going to insure and insist that
mankind keep
his attention on him one way or another. God doesn’t need 6
billion faithful
people that are forced into fidelity, he wants mankind stay in faith
fidelity
with him by free will and choice. And, God has always through history
as the
scriptures records and predicts that God purifies mankind to make us
worthy to
accept us him and receive him as a God.”
— Father Andrew Wingate, Founder
of “Oblates of St. Therese”, Radio Interview Jan 8,
2003
“God holds his people
responsible for righteousness, not for
results.”
—
Beth
Moore ( 1957- ) Author and
founder of Living Proof Ministries
"Do
not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome
who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in
their
loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal
processions. ...Blame
the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the 'new,
wonderful good
society' which shall now be Rome's,
interpreted to mean 'more money, more ease, more security, more living
fatly at
the expense of the industrious.' Julius was always an ambitious
villain, but he
is only one man."
—
Marcus
Tullius Cicero (106-43BC) Roman Philosopher, Lawyer, Statesman and
constitutionalist
"One of the penalties
for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being
governed by
your inferiors."
—
Plato (427BC-347BC) Classical
Greek philosopher, mathematician and writer
“We
are so
constituted that we believe the most incredible things; and, once they
are
engraved upon the memory, woe to him who would endeavor to erase
them.”
—
Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German writer and poet
"The
size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for
the vast
masses of the nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily
deceived
than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive
simplicity of
their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small
one, for
they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a
big
one."
— Adolph Hitler
(1889-1945) Founder of the Nazi Party, German leader
responsible for WWII
“It is God Who permits
it all. But, at the same time, it
demonstrates how much punishment can be evoked for not
paying attention
to God’s dictates.”
— Sister Lucy (1907 -2005) One of three children to witness a
series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal
“God…my
self in the Bronx always says that God has a funny sense of humor. ..He
has a
way of treating things, he deals with each individual soul delicately,
tenderly, compassionately but he deals with groups of people [country]
according to certain laws and he always observes those laws and that
means the
innocent are punished with the evil.”
— Father
Malachi Martin (1921-1999) Exorcist Priest, Theologian & Author, Radio Interview
5-4-1998
"My people are destroyed for
lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you
from being
a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I
also will
forget your children." — Hosea 4:6 RSV
“Of
Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in
vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in
vain.”
— Psalms 127:1 RSV
“For
freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit
again
to a yoke of slavery.”
— Galatians 5:1
RSV
"Life,
liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the
contrary,
it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand
that caused
men to make laws in the first place." “The law commit legal
plunder by
violating liberty and property.” "It is impossible to
introduce into society a
greater evil than this: the conversion of
the law into an instrument of plunder."
“The law
commit legal plunder by violating liberty and property.”
— Frederic
Bastiat (1801-1850) French
economist, legislator and writer
That government is best
which governs least
—
Ralph
Waldo Emerson
(1803–1882) Author, Poet and Philosopher
"For
the habitual truth-teller and truth-seeker, indeed, the world has very
little
liking. He is always unpopular, and not infrequently his unpopularity
is so
excessive that it endangers his life. Run your eye back over the list
of
martyrs, lay and clerical: nine-tenths of them, you will find, stood
accused of
nothing worse than honest efforts to find out and announce the truth.
...In no
field can he count upon a friendly audience, and freedom from assault.
Especially in the United States
is his whole enterprise viewed with
bilious eye. The men the American people admire most extravagantly are
the most
daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to
tell them
the truth.”
— Henry L.
Mencken (1880-1956) American journalist editor & satirist
“What governs men is
the
fear of truth.”
— Henri Frederic Amiel (1821-1881)
Swiss writer,
philosopher and poet
“To their duty to God,
youth
should realize their duty to our country. They should love and honor
the Constitution
of the United States,
the basic concepts and principles upon which this nation has been
established.
Yes, they need to develop a love for our free institutions.”
— Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994)
Secretary of Agriculture under Dwight D. Eisenhower & President
of LDS
Church
"It is the invariable habit
of bureaucracies, at all times and everywhere, to assume ...that every
citizen
is a criminal. Their one apparent purpose, pursued with a relentless
and
furious diligence, is to convert the assumption into a fact. They hunt
endlessly for proofs, and, when proofs are lacking, for mere
suspicions. The
moment they become aware of a definite citizen, John Doe, seeking what
is his
right under the law, they begin searching feverishly for an excuse for
withholding it from him."
— Henry
L. Mencken (1880-1956) American journalist editor & satirist
“The
Fate
of good men who refuse to become involved in politics is to be ruled by
evil
men.”
— Edmund
Burke (1729-1797) British Statesman, Lawyer, Writer, and Philosopher
“An appeaser is one
who feeds
a crocodile—hoping it will eat him last.”
—
Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British Politician & Leader
“In like manner, the
disbelief of a Divine Providence renders a man uncapable of holding any
public
station; for, since kings avow themselves to be the deputies of Providence.”
—
Jonathan
Swift (1667-1745) Cleric
and essayist, from his book Gulliver’s Travels
“But
the truth is that it is only by believing in God that we can
ever criticize the government. Once abolish the God, and the government
becomes
the God. That fact is written all across human history; but it is
written most
plainly across the recent history of Russia;
which was created by Lenin.
There the government is the God, and all the more the God, because it
proclaims
aloud in accents of thunder ... one essential commandment,
“Thou shalt have no
other gods but Me.””
— G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) British Journalist, Poet,
Author and
Playwright
"We
laugh at honor and
are shocked to find traitors in our midst."
—
C.S.
Lewis (1898 -1963)
Irish writer, scholar & Christian apologetic
"Vote:
The instrument and symbol of a free man's power to make a fool of
himself and a
wreck of his country."
— Ambrose
Bierce (1842-1914?) American
Journalist and
Short Story Writer
“If liberty means
anything
at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to
hear.”
— George Orwell [Eric Arthur Blair] (1903 – 1950)
The British novelist &
essayist
"One of the major
differences between the right and the left concerns the question of
authority:
To whom do we owe obedience and who is the ultimate moral authority?
For the
right, the primary moral authority is God (or, for secular
conservatives,
Judeo-Christian values), followed by parents. Of course, government
must also
play a role, but it is ultimately accountable to God and it should do
nothing
to undermine parental authority. For the left, the state and its
government are
the supreme authorities, while parental and divine authority are seen
as
impediments to state authority. ... In a nutshell, the left wants to
have
ever-expanding authority over people's lives through ever-expanding
governmental powers. It does so because it regards itself as more
enlightened
than others. Others are either enemies (the right) or unenlightened
masses. It
is elected by demonizing its enemies and doling out money and jobs to
the
masses."
— Dennis Prager (1948-
) Author, columnist & host of a nationally syndicated radio show
Perhaps the best parallel to
the attitude of the general public towards politics is to be found in
the Oxford
and Cambridge Boat
Race. Of the crowds that line the towing path every year from Putney to
Mortlake
there are few that have ever been to either University, have ever known
anyone
who has been to either, have even the remotest or most shadowy
connection with
either. Yet they take sides enthusiastically, and would almost be
prepared to
shed blood for their "fancy." Note that this is not a mere question
of backing your judgment on the merits of the two crews. Not one man in
ten
knows anything about that, and many are proud of always sticking to the
same
side year after year, of being always " Oxford
" or " Cambridge,"
whether their favourite colour wins or loses. And just as they
vehemently take
sides with a University to which they have never been, so they take
sides as
vehemently with a party which they do not control and from which they
can never
hope for the smallest benefit.
Such are the mass of the
supporters of either party. They derive their political opinions
originally
from some family tradition or some fanciful preference, but they back
them with
all the passion of sportsmen. In a vague subconscious way they know it
is a
game, but they happen to enjoy playing the game.
Nevertheless, there is a
section of the public, not perhaps large, but certainly increasing,
which is
beginning to be uneasy about the Party System. It is natural to men to
wish to
have voice in the government of their native land, and many are
beginning to
feel that they have no such effective voice to-day. Laws which they
detest are
passed, passed easily by the consent of both parties, and they are
powerless to
defeat or even to protest against them. Measures which they ardently
desire and
which they know that most of their neighbours ardently desire are never
even
mentioned. Acts of the Government which seem at the very least proper
subjects
for criticism and inquiry are suffered without comment. Scandals and
blunders
of which they have caught a glimpse are suddenly covered over and
buried in
silence. (The Party System, 1911)
— Hilaire
Belloc [Joseph
Hilaire Pierre René Belloc] (1870-1953) Soldier, sailor,
writer, poet, historian
and political philosopher
"Your silence gives
consent."
— Plato (427BC-347BC)
Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician and writer
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