‘Liberty Letters Quote of the Day’ Archives
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 [...]
Independence Resolution — Richard Henry Lee
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, 7 June 1776, Richard Henry Lee Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of a right, ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved, from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally [...]
The Tenth Amendment
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, 1789, Tenth Amendment, United States Constitution The power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or the people. The Liberty Letters are compiled, edited (with occasional commentary) by The Moral Liberal, Editor In [...]
No Other Patron Necessary — Algernon Sidney
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Algernon Sidney This appears so plainly in Scripture, that the assertors of liberty want no other patron than God himself; and his word so fully justifies what we contend for ... Magna Charta could give nothing to the people, who, in themselves, had all; and only reduced into a small volume, the rights which the [...]
Pass Me The Phone Book … Please! — William F. Buckley Jr.
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, William F. Buckley Jr. I would rather be governed by the first two thousand people in the Boston telephone directory than by the two thousand people on the faculty at Harvard. Liberty Letters is a project of The Moral Liberal. Compiled, and edited (with occasional commentary) by Editor in Chief, Steve [...]
Are We Governed By A Sense of Right and Wrong? — Rufus King
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, American Founding Era, Rufus King "I myself have been an advocate for a Government free as air," said Rufus King of Massachusetts, brilliant Harvard-trained lawyer and statesmen. But, he added, "my opinions have been established upon the belief that my countrymen were ... governed by a sense of Right and Wrong. I [...]
Moral Virtue and Republicanism — Richard Henry Lee
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Richard Henry Lee (with commentary by Steve Farrell) A corrupted people and republicanism cannot co-exist. - Richard Henry Lee Richard Henry Lee (1732 to 1794) was a statesman from Virginia, noted for his motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from Great Britain. This [...]
History, Liberty, and Limited Government — Robert Welch
Liberty Letter, 1958, Robert Welch (with commentary by Steve Farrell) In 1958, the ever insightful Robert Welch, observed: "It seems rather strange that is was Woodrow Wilson, who more than any other man started this nation on its present road to Totalitarianism, who also said that the history of human liberty is a history of the limitations of [...]
If One Wishes To Win — Leonard Read
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Leonard E. Read If one wishes to win, never choose teammates who are intent on losing the contest. Indeed, such folks should be scrupulously avoided as partners. -- (From Read's: "Anything That's Peaceful: The Case for the Free Market," p. 14.) Liberty Letters is a project of The Moral Liberal. Compiled, and [...]
The Trouble With Democracy — John Adams
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, John Adams As to the trouble with democracy, American Founder John Adams noted: "From the beginning I saw more difficulty from our attempts to govern ourselves than from all the armies and fleets of Europe." The solution sought for and achieved was a republic. Liberty Letters is a project of The Moral Liberal [...]
American Revolution, Part II — Benjamin Rush
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, 4 July 1787, Benjamin Rush We have changed our forms of government, but it remains yet to effect a revolution in our principles, opinions and manners so as to accommodate them to the forms of government we have adopted. Liberty Letters is a project of The Moral Liberal . Compiled, and edited (with occasional [...]
