Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter to James Madison (20 Dec 1787)
A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference. Thomas Jefferson...
View ArticleMencken, H.L. -- Prejudices: Fourth Series, “On Government” (1924)
The Bill of Rights was designed trustfully to prohibit forever two of the favorite crimes of all known governments: the seizure of private property without adequate compensation and the invasion of the...
View ArticleRoosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)
A respect for the rights of other people to determine their forms of government and their economy will not weaken our democracy. It will inevitably strengthen it. One of the first things we must get...
View ArticleWilson, Woodrow -- The New Freedom, ch. 3 (1913)
In public affairs, stupidity is more dangerous than knavery. Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) US President (1913-20), educator, political scientistThe New Freedom, ch. 3 (1913)
View ArticleTuchman, Barbara -- “An Inquiry into the Persistence of Unwisdom in...
Wooden-headedness consists of assessing a situation in terms of preconceived, fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to...
View ArticleRoosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)
Our trouble is that we do not demand enough of the people who represent us. We are responsible for their activities. … We must spur them to more imagination and enterprise in making a push into the...
View ArticleRoosevelt, Eleanor -- Tomorrow Is Now (1963)
One thing I believe profoundly: We make our own history. The course of history is directed by the choices we make and our choices grow out of the ideas, the beliefs, the values, the dreams of the...
View ArticleTuchman, Barbara -- The Guns of August, ch. 9 (1962)
No more distressing moment can ever face a British government than that which requires it to come to a hard, fast, and specific decision. Barbara W. Tuchman (1912-1989) American historian and authorThe...
View ArticleTuchman, Barbara -- (Attributed)
Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library. Barbara W. Tuchman (1912-1989) American historian and author(Attributed)
View ArticleBackus, Isaac -- An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty (1773)
God has appointed two kinds of government in the world, which are distinct in their nature, and ought never to be confounded together; one of which is called civil, the other ecclesiastical government....
View ArticleAdams, Abigail -- Letter to John Adams (27 Nov 1775)
I am more and more convinced that man is a dangerous creature; and that power, whether vested in many or a few, is ever grasping, and, like the grave, cries, “Give, give!” The great fish swallow up the...
View ArticleMadison, James -- Letter to Edward Livingston (10 Jul 1822)
And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together. James...
View ArticleEisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Republican National Committee Luncheon...
Now I realize that on any particular decision a very great amount of heat can be generated. But I do say this: life is not made up of just one decision here, or another one there. It is the total of...
View ArticleFranklin, Benjamin -- Letter to Richard Price (9 Oct 1780)
When a religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support it so that its professors are obligated to call for help of the...
View ArticleMencken, H.L. -- “The Coolidge Buncombe” (6 Oct 1924)
The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naive and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of...
View ArticleCuomo, Mario -- Keynote Address, Democratic National Convention (16 Jul 1984)
We believe in only the government we need, but we insist on all the government we need. We believe in a government that is characterized by fairness and reasonableness, a reasonableness that goes...
View ArticleEisenhower, Dwight David -- Speech, Associated Press luncheon, New York (24...
Censorship, in my opinion, is a stupid and shallow way of approaching the solution to any problem. Though sometimes necessary, as witness a professional and technical secret that may have a bearing...
View ArticleTaft, William -- Speech, Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce, Washington,...
We are all imperfect. We can not expect perfect government. William Howard Taft (1857-1930) US President (1909-13) and Chief Justice (1921-1930)Speech, Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce,...
View ArticleEisenhower, Dwight David -- News conference (13 May 1959)
Another fine quotation from WIST - Wish I'd Said That! . I believe that the United States as a government, if it is going to be true to its own founding documents, does have the job of working toward...
View ArticleSchopenhauer, Arthur -- (Attributed)
Governments make of philosophy a means of serving their state interests, and scholars make of it a trade. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) German philosopher(Attributed) Speaking of Hegel acting as an...
View Article
