In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed, and next oblige it to control itself. JAMES MADISON

The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience. ALBERT CAMUS

Return To Home

Though written constitutions may be violated in moments of passion or delusion, yet they furnish a text to which those who are watchful may again rally and recall the people.  They fix, too, for the people the principles of their political creed THOMAS JEFFERSON

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

In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution. THOMAS JEFFERSON

The greatest good we can do our country is to heal its party divisions and make them one people. THOMAS JEFFERSON

For well over a hundred years, politicians, statesmen, and people remembered that this was a republic, not a democracy, and knew what they meant when they made that distinction. ROBERT WELCH

" of the People, by the People, for the People"

A free people ought ... to be armed... GEORGE WASHINGTON

Go To Comments

Let me now ...warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of  Party generally...A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. GEORGE WASHINGTON

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. THOMAS JEFFERSON

On every question of construction (of the Constitution) let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invent against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed. THOMAS JEFFERSON

... It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government . GEORGE WASHINGTON

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived, and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.  Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. JOHN F. KENNEDY

No free Government can stand without virtue in the people and a lofty spirit of patriotism; and if the sordid feelings of mere selfishness shall usurp the place which ought to be filled by public spirit, the legislation of Congress will soon be converted into a scramble for personal and sectional advantages. ANDREW JACKSON

Posterity: You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

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... JAMES A. GARFIELD

Political Language - and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists - is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. GEORGE ORWELL

The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. PLATO

The short memories of American voters is what  keeps our politicians in office. WILL ROGERS

In the end more than they wanted freedom, they wanted security.  When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free. EDWARD GIBBON

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. H.L MENCKEN

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it. THOMAS PAINE

Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants. ALEXANDER HAMILTON

Can we truly expect that those who aim to exploit us can be trusted to educate us? ERIC SCHAUB

Joe  Oliva  For  President  2008

To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. TEDDY ROOSEVELT

The public welfare demands that constitutional cases must be decided according to the terms of the Constitution itself, and not according to judges' views of fairness, reasonableness, or justice. JUSTICE HUGO BLACK

The mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs of cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble, through the rivalry of schools and creeds that are anxious to obtain official recognition, and there is great danger that our people will lose our Independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in time, to regulate every act of humanity from cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise. MARK TWAIN

Quotes

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote was never lost. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS