Favourite and Important Quotes over which to remember and ponder - geoffgould.net - Geoffrey Gould

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Favourite and Important Quotes
to remember and over which to ponder
[Where applicable, emphasis is added]

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
-- Thomas Jefferson

Every generation needs a new revolution.
-- Thomas Jefferson

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
-- Thomas Jefferson

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
-- Thomas Jefferson

A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.
-- Thomas Jefferson

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.
-- James Madison

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

It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.
-- James Madison

Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.
-- James Madison

The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.
-- James Madison

Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government.
-- James Madison

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
-- Benjamin Franklin

I am absolutely opposed to a national ID card. This is a total contradiction of what a free society is all about. The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government. We don't need a national ID card.
-- Ron Paul

It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government.
-- Thomas Paine

Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.
-- William Penn

That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people trained to arms, is the proper, natural and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies in time of peace should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
-- George Mason.

If the laws of the Union were oppressive, they could not carry them into effect, if the people were possessed of the proper means of defense.
-- William Lenoir

Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.
-- Thomas Jefferson.

Whenever people... entrust the defense of their country to a regular, standing army, composed of mercenaries, the power of that country will remain under the direction of the most wealthy citizens...
-- A Framer

The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.
-- Senator Hubert H. Humprey

If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of constitutional privilege.
-- Wilson Vs. State

... to disarm the people is the best and most effective way to enslave them...
-- George Mason.

The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States. The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed.
-- Alexander Hamilton

As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize,... The people are confirmed in their right to keep and bear arms.
-- Tench Coxe

The possession of arms makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues, and tends to permit uprising. Therefore, the heads of provinces, official agents and deputies are ordered to collect all the weapons mentioned above and turn them over to the government.
-- Toyotomi Hideyoshit

Those who have command of the arms in a country are masters of the state, and have it in their power to make what revolutions they please. [Thus,] there is no end to observations on the difference between the measures likely to be pursued by a minister backed by a standing army, and those of a court awed by the fear of an armed people.
-- Aristotle

To avoid domestic tyranny, the people must be armed to stand upon [their] own Defense; which if [they] are enabled to do, [they] shall never be put upon it, but [their] Swords may grow rusty in [their] hands; for that Nation is surest to live in Peace, that is most capable of making War; and a Man that hath a Sword by his side, shall have least occasion to make use of it. The right of self-defense is the first law of nature; in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest possible limits...and [when] the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.
-- Sir George Tucker, Judge of the Virginia Supreme Court.

No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave. He who has nothing, and who himself belongs to another, must be defended by him whose property he is, and needs no arms. But he, who thinks he is his own master, and has what he can call his own, ought to have arms to defend himself, and what he possesses; also he lives precariously, and at discretion.
-- James Burgh

... it is liberty rather than peace, which breeds genuine prosperity in a nation.
-- J.J. Rossueau

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
-- Thomas Jefferson

How does it become a man to act towards the American government today? I answer that he cannot, without disgrace, be associated with it.
-- Henry David Thoreau

The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjected people to carry arms; history shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjected peoples to carry arms have prepared their own fall.
-- Adolph Hitler
[e.g., people with free arms rightly will not tolerate slavery]

God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it.
-- Daniel Webster

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
-Mao Zedong
[We can conclude from this that these powers should remain with the people.]

Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
-- William Pitt

Peace without justice is tyranny.
-- old Chinese proverb

Life, liberty and property do not exist because men have made laws.
-- Frederic Bastiat

No one escapes when freedom fails. The best men rot in filthy jails, and those who cried, Appease, appease! are hanged by those they tried to please. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.
-- Frederic Bastiat

It is a sin to be silent when it is your duty to protest.
-- Abraham Lincoln

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. -- Thomas Jefferson	Every generation needs a new revolution. -- Thomas Jefferson
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. -- Thomas Jefferson	The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. -- Thomas Jefferson
A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine. -- Thomas Jefferson	I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. -- James Madison
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. -- James Madison	It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad. -- James Madison
Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. -- James Madison	The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. -- James Madison
Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government. -- James Madison	Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. -- Benjamin Franklin
I am absolutely opposed to a national ID card. This is a total contradiction of what a free society is all about. The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government. We don't need a national ID card. -- Ron Paul	It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government. -- Thomas Paine
	Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. -- William Penn
That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people trained to arms, is the proper, natural and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies in time of peace should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power. -- George Mason.	If the laws of the Union were oppressive, they could not carry them into effect, if the people were possessed of the proper means of defense. -- William Lenoir
Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man. -- Thomas Jefferson.	Whenever people... entrust the defense of their country to a regular, standing army, composed of mercenaries, the power of that country will remain under the direction of the most wealthy citizens... -- A Framer
The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard against the tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible. -- Senator Hubert H. Humprey	If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of constitutional privilege. -- Wilson Vs. State
... to disarm the people is the best and most effective way to enslave them... -- George Mason.	The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States. The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed. -- Alexander Hamilton
As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize,... The people are confirmed in their right to keep and bear arms. -- Tench Coxe	The possession of arms makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues, and tends to permit uprising. Therefore, the heads of provinces, official agents and deputies are ordered to collect all the weapons mentioned above and turn them over to the government. -- Toyotomi Hideyoshit
Those who have command of the arms in a country are masters of the state, and have it in their power to make what revolutions they please. [Thus,] there is no end to observations on the difference between the measures likely to be pursued by a minister backed by a standing army, and those of a court awed by the fear of an armed people. -- Aristotle	To avoid domestic tyranny, the people must be armed to stand upon [their] own Defense; which if [they] are enabled to do, [they] shall never be put upon it, but [their] Swords may grow rusty in [their] hands; for that Nation is surest to live in Peace, that is most capable of making War; and a Man that hath a Sword by his side, shall have least occasion to make use of it. The right of self-defense is the first law of nature; in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest possible limits...and [when] the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction. -- Sir George Tucker, Judge of the Virginia Supreme Court.
No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave. He who has nothing, and who himself belongs to another, must be defended by him whose property he is, and needs no arms. But he, who thinks he is his own master, and has what he can call his own, ought to have arms to defend himself, and what he possesses; also he lives precariously, and at discretion. -- James Burgh	... it is liberty rather than peace, which breeds genuine prosperity in a nation. -- J.J. Rossueau
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. -- Thomas Jefferson	How does it become a man to act towards the American government today? I answer that he cannot, without disgrace, be associated with it. -- Henry David Thoreau
The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjected people to carry arms; history shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjected peoples to carry arms have prepared their own fall. -- Adolph Hitler [e.g., people with free arms rightly will not tolerate slavery]	God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it. -- Daniel Webster
Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. -Mao Zedong [We can conclude from this that these powers should remain with the people.]	Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. -- William Pitt
Peace without justice is tyranny. -- old Chinese proverb	Life, liberty and property do not exist because men have made laws. -- Frederic Bastiat
No one escapes when freedom fails. The best men rot in filthy jails, and those who cried, Appease, appease! are hanged by those they tried to please. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime. -- Frederic Bastiat	It is a sin to be silent when it is your duty to protest. -- Abraham Lincoln