Quotes of the Patriots
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Heed these words!
Thomas Jefferson:
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.
Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.
Benjamin Franklin:
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.
The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.
A great quote often mis-attributed to Franklin:
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
James Madison:
On the distinctive principles of the Government …of the United States, the best guides are to be found in…The Declaration of Independence, as the fundamental Act of Union of these States.
letter to Thomas Jefferson, February 8, 1825
If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions.
letter to Edmund Pendleton, January 21, 1792
Theodore Roosevelt:
“Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and commonsense.”… “We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less.”
Ronald Reagan:
“There is no question that we have failed to live up to the dreams of the founding fathers many times and in many places. Sometimes we do better than others. But all in all, the one thing we must be on guard against is thinking that because of this, the system has failed. The system has not failed. Some human beings have failed the system.”
- June 21, 1973
“It is up to us…to work together for progress and humanity so that our grandchildren, when they look back at us, can truly say that we not only preserved the flame of freedom, but cast its warmth and light further than those who came before us.”
- 1982
“We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we’re in a time when there are no heroes, they just don’t know where to look.”
- January 20, 1981
Samuel Adams:
The Constitution shall never be construed… to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.
If ever a 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.
The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.
Joseph Story:
Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833
“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 served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1811 to 1845 and was a member of the Sons of Liberty.
