Sayings
Issue #75 Posted January, 2012

"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy." -- James Madison

"Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on." -- Benjamin Franklin

"Some people just want to be left the hell alone." -- Unknown

"Think first, then act; lest foolish be thy deed" -- Pythagoras

"Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence." -- John Locke

"Government's job is for gettin' in a man's way." -- Malcolm Reynolds "Firefly"

"A man who trims himself to suit other’s expectations will soon whittle himself away" -- Unk

"Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee." -- Proverbs 9:8

"If government sets the standard, it's probably the wrong standard applied to the wrong problem at the wrong time." -- Unknown

"Each of us has a natural right, from God, to defend his person, his liberty and his property." -- Claude Frederic Bastiat

"No people on earth have such abundant cause for Thanksgiving as we have. . . . Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and show itself in deeds. We can best prove our thankfulness to the Almighty by the way in which on this earth and at this time each of us does his duty to his fellow men." -- Theodore Roosevelt

"Ineptocracy (in-ept-o-cra-cy) - A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers." -- Unknown, possibly Jeff Cooper

"As a behavior modification technique, killing is unparalleled, and works with even the slowest of learners." -- T.B.

"This country wasn't built by men who sought handouts. In its brilliant youth, this country showed the rest of the world what greatness was possible to Man and what happiness is possible on Earth. Then it began apologizing for its greatness and began giving away its wealth, feeling guilty for having produced more than its neighbors. ... Examine your values and understand that you must choose one side or the other. Any compromise between good and evil only hurts the good and helps the evil." -- novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

"You can ignore reality. You can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality." -- Ayn Rand

Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem. -- Ronald Reagan

"The price of freedom is the willingness to do sudden battle, anywhere, at any time, and with utter recklessness. If you aren't ready to do sudden battle, you are only as free as the next guy wants to let you be." -- Robert Heinlein

"Advanced Marksmanship is being able to apply the fundamentals while your leg is on fire." -- John Farnam

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, and the other for your freedom." -- Unknown

"A universal peace ... is in the catalogue of events, which will never exist but in the imaginations of visionary philosophers, or in the breasts of benevolent enthusiasts." --James Madison

"Some see the glass as half full; some see it as half empty. I see the glass as an impact weapon." -- Annon

"Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful, and murder respectable and to give the appearance of solidity to pure wind." -- George Orwell

"[T]o preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." -- Federal Farmer

"The American dream is not that every man must be level with every other man. The American dream is that every man must be free to become whatever God intends he should become." -- Ronald Reagan

"If 10 percent is good enough for God, 9 percent should be good enough for government." -- Herman Cain

"Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions." -- author G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

"Your silence gives consent." -- Greek philosopher Plato (429-347 BC)

"There are only two places where the powerful and great in this world lose their courage, tremble in the depths of their souls, and become truly afraid. These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ." -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"No priest, no theologian stood at the cradle of Bethlehem. And yet, all Christian theology finds its beginnings in the miracle of miracles, that God became human." -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"The republic was not established by cowards, and cowards will not preserve it." -- American writer Elmer Davis (1800-1858)

"I bet after seeing us, George Washington would sue us for calling him 'father.'" -- American humorist Will Rogers (1879-1935)

"Let us then ... under God, trust our cause to our swords." -- Samuel Adams

"In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened." -- George Washington

"Let us recollect that peace or war will not always be left to our option; that however moderate or unambitious we may be, we cannot count upon the moderation, or hope to extinguish the ambition of others." -- Alexander Hamilton

"It is the duty of parents to maintain their children decently, and according to their circumstances; to protect them according to the dictates of prudence; and to educate them according to the suggestions of a judicious and zealous regard for their usefulness, their respectability and happiness." -- James Wilson

"[A] wise and frugal government ... 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

"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

"We who live in free market societies believe that growth, prosperity and ultimately human fulfillment, are created from the bottom up, not the government down. Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefitting from their success -- only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, progressive, and free. Trust the people. This is the one irrefutable lesson of the entire postwar period contradicting the notion that rigid government controls are essential to economic development." -- Ronald Reagan

"The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals ... it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government ... it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government." -- philosopher Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

"We must take human nature as we find it, perfection falls not to the share of mortals." -- George Washington

"Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? Nowhere. And yet that is precisely what is happening with a $20 billion fund to be provided by BP to compensate people harmed by their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico." -- columnist Thomas Sowell

"Liberty will not descend to a people, a people must raise themselves to liberty; it is a blessing that must be earned before it can be enjoyed." -- English cleric and writer Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832)

"But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint." -- British statesman Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

"No priest, no theologian stood at the cradle of Bethlehem. And yet, all Christian theology finds its beginnings in the miracle of miracles, that God became human." -- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"The people of the U.S. owe their Independence & their liberty, to the wisdom of descrying in the minute tax of 3 pence on tea, the magnitude of the evil comprised in the precedent. Let them exert the same wisdom, in watching against every evil lurking under plausible disguises, and growing up from small beginnings." -- James Madison

"[A] good moral character is the first essential in a man.... It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous." -- George Washington

"[J]udges, therefore, should be always men of learning and experience in the laws, of exemplary morals, great patience, calmness, coolness, and attention. Their minds should not be distracted with jarring interests; they should not be dependent upon any man, or body of men." -- John Adams

"[M]y highest duty as president [is] to preserve peace and defend these United States. ... American strength is once again a sheltering arm for freedom in a dangerous world. Strength is the most persuasive argument we have to convince our adversaries to negotiate seriously and to cease bullying other nations. But tonight the security program that you and I launched to restore America's strength is in jeopardy, threatened by those who would quit before the job is done. Any slackening now would invite the very dangers America must avoid and could fatally compromise our negotiating position. Our adversaries ... respect only nations that negotiate from a position of strength." -- Ronald Reagan

""The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered as the palladium of the liberties of a republic." -- Justice Joseph Story

"The [Supreme] Court found that if the Second Amendment indeed protects an individual right to own a gun, the notion that the government can't ban all handguns is the minimum protection the Constitution can offer." -- economist John R. Lott Jr.

"Strict gun-control policies have failed to deliver on their essential promise: that denying law-abiding citizens access to the means of self-defense will somehow make them safer. This should come as no surprise, since gun control has always been about control, not guns." -- Cato Institute policy analyst David Rittgers

"Now that the Supreme Court of the United States has decided that the Second Amendment to the Constitution means that individual Americans have a right to bear arms, what can we expect? Those who have no confidence in ordinary Americans may expect a bloodbath, as the benighted masses start shooting each other, now that they can no longer be denied guns by their betters. People who think we shouldn't be allowed to make our own medical decisions, or decisions about which schools our children attend, certainly are not likely to be happy with the idea that we can make our own decisions about how to defend ourselves." -- economist Thomas Sowell

"The loss of candor is grievous, and in my opinion it may yet prove to be mortal, because if we cannot discuss our problems in plain speech that describes reality, it is unlikely that we will be able to solve them." -- former Secretary of State Alexander Haig (1924-2010)

"Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites." -- British statesman Edmund Burke (1729-1797)

"They say hot air rises. And I guess it does. An airplane flying over the Capitol the other day caught fire from outside sources." -- American humorist Will Rogers (1879-1935)

"Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them." -- Thomas Jefferson

"[G]overnment can, instead of extending freedom, restrict freedom. And note ... that the 'can' quickly becomes 'will' the moment the holders of government power are left to their own devices. This is because of the corrupting influence of power, the natural tendency of men who possess some power to take unto themselves more power. The tendency leads eventually to the acquisition of all power -- whether in the hands of one or many makes little difference to the freedom of those left on the outside." -- U. S. Senator Barry Goldwater (1909-1998)

"Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression." -- James Wilson

2012-1