‘Liberty Letters Quote of the Day’ Archives
Gouverneur Morris: The Only Solid Base of Free Governments
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Gouverneur Morris For avoiding the extremes of despotism or anarchy ... the only ground of hope must be on the morals of the people. I believe that religion is the only solid base of morals and that morals are the only possible support of free governments. Source: United States Founding Father, Signer [...]
Patrick Henry on Right and Wrong
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Patrick Henry The eternal difference between right and wrong does not fluctuate. It is immutable. Source: Patrick Henry. Virginia Ratifying Convention: June 9, 1788
If Men Were Angels: James Madison
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, James Madison 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. 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 [...]
On the Dangers of Deficits and Perpetual Revenue
The Moral Liberal with Steve Farrell In the Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, Mr. Mason of Virginia, suggested: the necessity of preventing the danger of perpetual revenue which must of necessity subvert the liberty of any Country. If it be objected to on the principle of Mr. Rutledge's motion that public credit may require perpetual [...]
As to Standing Armies In Time of Peace
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, 1787, Elbridge Gerry Mr. GERRY took notice that there was no check here against standing armies in time of peace. The existing Congress is so constructed that it cannot of itself maintain an army. This would not be the case under the new system. The people were jealous on this head, and great opposition to [...]
Democracy: A More Pure and Unmixed Tyranny
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, James Wilson Mr. Wilson, after viewing the subject with all the coolness and attention possible was most apprehensive of a dissolution of the Government from the legislature swallowing up all the other powers. He remarked that the prejudices against the Executive resulted from a misapplication of the adage [...]
Gouverneur Morris: On Office Hunting
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Gouverneur Morris To avoid another inconveniency, we are to have a whole Legislature at liberty to cut out offices for one another. He thought a self-denying ordinance for ourselves would be more proper. ... He had scarcely seen a single corrupt measure in the Legislature of North Carolina, which could not be [...]
Men of Intemperate Minds Cannot Be Free
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Edmund Burke Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites,— in proportion as their love of justice is above their rapacity — in proportion as their soundness and sobriety and understanding is above their vanity and presumption — in [...]
A Heart That Burns for Its Country’s Welfare: John Adams
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, John Adams These are not the vapors of a melancholy mind, nor the effusions of envy, disappointed ambition, nor of a spirit of opposition to government, but the emanations of a heart that burns for its country's welfare. No one of any feeling, born and educated in this once happy country, can consider the [...]
Webster: I See It As Plainly As I See the Sun In Heaven
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, March 7, 1850, Daniel Webster Mr. President, I should much prefer to have heard, from every member on this floor, declarations of opinion that this Union should never be dissolved, than the declaration of opinion that in any case, under the pressure of any circumstances, such a dissolution was possible. I hear [...]
Preamble to the United States Constitution
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, 1787, The Preamble WE, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution [...]
Loyalty to Permanence Not Passion — Justice Joseph Story
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, 1833, Justice Joseph Story While republican principles demand, that the deliberate sense of the community should govern the conduct of those, who administer their affairs, it cannot escape observation, that transient impulses and sudden excitements, caused by artful and designing men, often lead the people [...]
What Kind of Compatibility Can There Be Between Us?
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Pat Buchanan This episode reveals the gulf between us and the Islamic world. Despite all our talk of universal values, tens of millions of Muslims, in countries not only hostile but friendly, believe that a sacrilege against their faith, like the burning of the Quran by a single American oddball, justifies [...]
That Shining City Upon a Hill — Ronald Reagan
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Ronald Reagan And let us all renew our commitment. Renew our pledge to day by day, person by person, make our country and the world a better place to live. Then when the nations of the world turn to us and say, "America, you are the model of freedom and prosperity." We can turn to them and say, "you ain't seen [...]
Loss of Liberty: Exploiting Dangers, Real or Pretended
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, James Madison Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended from abroad. The management of foreign relations appears to be the most susceptible of abuse of all the trusts committed to a Government, because they can be concealed or [...]
The First Allegiance of Elected Officials Is to The Constitution
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Edmund Burke I am sorry I cannot conclude without saying a word on a topic touched upon by my worthy colleague. I wish that topic had been passed by at a time when I have so little leisure to discuss it. But since he has thought proper to throw it out, I owe you a clear explanation of my poor sentiments on that [...]
The Wide Margin — J. Reuben Clark Jr.
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, J. Reuben Clark Jr. Tradition has it that Solon, the great law-giver declared in reply to the taunt "Are these the best laws you can devise?" No! but they are the best the Greeks can bear!" There is always a wide margin between the theoretically perfect and the practically enforceable law. J. Reuben Clark Jr. [...]
The Love of Power — Edward Gibbon
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Edward Gibbon Of all our passions and appetites, the love of power is of the most imperious and unsociable nature, since the pride of one man requires the submission of the multitude. Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, "The History of the [...]
Time to Stop Pussyfooting Around — Robert Welch
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Robert Welch The time has certainly come to stop pussyfooting around with language about important truths of our recent history. It is not fun to point a finger at anybody. But when the evidence is beyond question, it's imperative now that we do point fingers at those who—whatever their misguided purposes or [...]
Beware the Power of Precedent — Jefferson
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Thomas Jefferson A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for a second; that second for a third; and so on, till the bulk of the society is reduced to mere automatons of misery, to have no sensibilities left but for sin and suffering. Source: Thomas Jefferson, Works 7:14 Liberty Letters [...]
The Nature of the Enemy — Vladimir Lenin
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Vladimir Lenin As long as capitalism and socialism exist we cannot live in peace; in the end; one of the other will triumph — a funeral dirge will be sung over either the Soviet Republic or over world capitalism. Liberty Letters are compiled and edited (with occasional commentary) by The Moral Liberal, Editor [...]
Fundamental Right of Societies, Clubs, and Nations
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Gouvernor Morris Every society from a great nation down to a club has a right of declaring the conditions on which new members should be admitted. Source: Madison's Notes on the Federal Convention, August 9, 1787, Gouvernor Morris: delegate from Pennsylvania. Liberty Letters are compiled and edited (with [...]
On the Moral Necessity of Spies — Sun Tzu
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Alan Caruba quoting Sun Tzu On the topic of spies, Sun Tzu wrote, “to remain in ignorance of the enemy’s condition, simply because one grudges the outlay of a hundred ounces of silver in honors and emoluments, is the height of inhumanity.” Liberty Letters are compiled and edited (with occasional [...]
The Ploy of Libertine Liberty — Edmund Burke
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Edmund Burke So heavy is the aristocratic yoke that the nobles have been obliged to enervate the spirit of their subjects by every sort of debauchery; they have denied them the liberty of reason, and they have made them amends by what a base soul will think a more valuable liberty, by not only allowing, but [...]
From Such Liberty, O Lord Deliver Us! — Noah Webster
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Noah Webster But I cannot quit this subject without attempting to correct some of the erroneous opinions respecting freedom and tyranny, and the principles by which they are supported. Many people seem to entertain an idea, that liberty consists in a power to act without any control. This is more liberty than [...]
Empires Must Have Enemies — John T. Flynn
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, John T. Flynn We have managed to accumulate a pretty sizable empire of our own already — far-spreading territories detached from our continental borders.… We have now managed to acquire bases all over the world.… There is no part of the world where trouble can break out where we do not have bases of [...]
Nil Desperandum — Samuel Adams
Liberty Letters with Steve Farrell Human nature being what it is, patriotic fervor tends to come and go. In 1772, when it seemed to be more going than coming, James Warren reported to Samuel Adams from Plymouth about the towns he had been canvassing: "They are dead," he lamented, "and the dead can't be raised without a miracle." "Nil [...]
A Blessing or a Curse? — George Washington
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, George Washington In June of 1783, America's fate swung between the between the extremes of anarchy (because of too much democracy and too little executive power) and tyranny (the natural result of anarchy or the desire to restore order); which led George Washington to observe: "It is yet to be decided whether [...]
Christian Freemen — John Dickinson
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, John Dickinson Let us consider ourselves as MEN — FREEMEN — CHRISTIAN FREEMEN — separated from the rest of the world, and firmly bound together by the same rights, interests and dangers. Let these keep our attention inflexibly fixed on the GREAT OBJECTS, which we must CONTINUALLY REGARD, in order to [...]
Saving America: Worth the Herculean Effort — Robert Welch
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Robert Welch The question is not whether we can expunge this disease of collectivism, and make America strong and healthy and a true example for all the world again, but whether we think it is worth the Herculean effort, the sacrifice and dedication, that would be required, and I am hoping you think so [...]
John Adam’s Prophecy
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, John Adams Liberty, that has been compelled to skulk about in Corners of the Earth, and been everlastingly persecuted by the great, the rich, the noble, the reverend, the proud, the lazy, the ambitious, avaricious, and revengeful, who have from the beginning constituted almost all of the sons of Adam. Liberty, [...]
Men With the Mentality of Gangsters — Lord Acton
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Lord Acton Where you have the concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. Source: Lord Acton as quoted in "Bringing America Home: How America Lost Her Way and How We Can Find Our Way Back" by Tom Pauken, p. 179. Liberty Letters are compiled and [...]
The Senate: A Balance For State Rights — Gouverneur Morris
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Gouverneur Morris The consequence of such a transfer of power from the maritime to the interior and landed interest will he foresees be such an oppression of commerce, that he shall be obliged to vote for the vicious principle of equality in the second branch in order to provide some defense for the Northern [...]
The Only Firm Basis of Liberty — Thomas Jefferson
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Thomas Jefferson Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in their hearts that these liberties are of the gift of God, that they are not to be violated but with his wrath. Source: Jefferson, Thomas. Works Volume 8:404.
Man Is Naturally Free — Algernon Sidney
Liberty Letters, Quote of the Day, Algernon Sidney IF any man ask how nations come to have the power of doing these things, I answer, that liberty being only an exemption from the dominion of another, the question ought not to be, how a nation can come to be free, but how a man comes to have a dominion over it; for till the right of dominion be [...]
Federal Powers Few and Defined — James Madison
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, James Madison The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State Governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which [...]
Men Have Forgotten God — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn More than half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: "Men have forgotten God: That's why this all happened." In the process I have read hundreds of books, [...]
The First Amendment, Domestic Terror, And Right-Wing Extremists
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Alex Newman Responding to the U.S. Supreme Courts' 6-3 ruling that upheld criminal penalties for peaceful political speech, Alex Newman writes in his June 23rd NewAmerican.com column: The federal government has already made clear who it considers the biggest “domestic terror” threat: “right-wing [...]
The Essential Causes of Rome’s Decline — Will Durant
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Will Durant A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of Rome's decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars. Will Durant, "Caesar and Christ."
A Most Formidable, Destructive, Deadly Enemy — Edward Everett
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Edward Everett If I mistake not, the distress of the year 1857 was produced by an enemy more formidable than hostile armies; by a pestilence more deadly than fever or plague; by a visitation more destructive than the frosts of Spring or the blights of Summer. I believe it was caused by a mountain load of [...]
To Speak and Write What We Think — Thomas Jefferson
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Thomas Jefferson During the contest of opinion through which we have passed the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced [...]
Can Inward Slaves Make Outward Free? — John Milton
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, John Milton What wise and valiant man would seek to free These , thus degenerate, by themselves enslaved, Or could of inward slaves make outward free? Source: John Milton, "Paradise Regained," 4th Book. Liberty Letters are compiled and edited (with occasional commentary) by The Moral Liberal, Editor In Chief, [...]
Wisdom, Duty, and Action — John Dickinson
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, John Dickinson It certainly is not a wise man, who folds his arms, and reposes himself at home, viewing with unconcern, the flames that have invaded his neighbors house, without using any endeavors to extinguish them. ... When the slightest point, touching the freedom, of one colony, is agitated, I earnestly wish [...]
The Great Betrayal — Enoch Powell
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Enoch Powell The supreme function of statesmanship is to provide against preventable evils ... the discussion of grave but, with effort now, avoidable evils is the most unpopular and at the same time the most necessary occupation for the politician ... Whether there will be public will to demand that action, I [...]
The Cowardice of Progressives — Charles Peguy
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, French Poet, Charles Peguy It will never be known what acts of cowardice have been motivated by the fear of being insufficiently progressive. Liberty Letters are compiled and edited (with occasional commentary) by The Moral Liberal, Editor In Chief, Steve Farrell.
Communism Is the Goal — Roger Baldwin
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Roger Baldwin Today, the ACLU is synonymous with everything and anything that might hurt, insult, undermine, or overthrow Christianity, the United States Constitution, and the American Free Enterprise System - and empowering our enemies. That this has always been what the ACLU is really about is evidenced by a [...]
The Purpose of Education — Leland Stanford
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Senator Leland Standford All that we can do for you is to place the opportunity within your reach. Remember that life is, above all, practical; that you are here to fit yourself for a useful career; also, that learning should not only make you wise in the arts and sciences, but should fully develop your moral and [...]
Gain Respect By Strength — Barry Goldwater
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Barry Goldwater We must act from strength to gain respect, not prestige. In this we must recognize that the affairs of nations are not determined by good-will tours, alms-giving, gestures of self-denial, rehabilitation projects, and discussion programs. The affairs of nations are determined -- for good or for [...]
Contemptable Naked Capitalists — John Dickinson
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, 1767, John Dickinson Some states have lost their liberty by particular accidents. But this calamity is generally owing to the decay of virtue. 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 [...]
The Custom of Tyrants and Their Dependents — Richard Henry Lee
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, 1787, Richard Henry Lee It is natural for men,who wish to hasten the adoption of a measure, to tell us, now is the crisis -- now is the critical moment which must be seized, or all will be lost: and to shut the door to free inquiry, whenever conscious the thing presented has defects in it, which time and [...]
