There is a difference between imitating a good man and counterfeiting him. Benjamin Franklin
Category Archives: Quotations Freedom
Political dissension is doubtless a less evil than the lethargy of despotism: …
Political dissension is doubtless a less evil than the lethargy of despotism: but still it is a great evil, and it would be as worthy the efforts of the patriot as of the philosopher, to exclude it’s influence if possible, from social life. The good are rare enough at best. There is no reason to subdivide them by artificial lines. But whether we shall ever be able so far to perfect the principles of society as that political opinions shall, in it’s intercourse, be as inoffensive as those of philosophy, mechanics, or any other, may well be doubted. Thomas Jefferson
TJ to Thomas Pinckney, 29 May 1797 on dissent
They have erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms …
They have erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass the people and eat out their substance. The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and the U.S. Congress
Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a …
Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade. Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790
…
The Constitution may not be perfect, but it’s better than what we have now. Jeff Chan
1988
Equality, in a social sense, may be divided into that of condition, …
Equality, in a social sense, may be divided into that of condition, and that of rights. Equality of condition is incompatible with civilization, and is found only to exist in those communities that are but slightly removed from the savage state. In practice, it can only mean a common misery. James Fenimore Cooper
American Author (1789-1851)
Academia is only one of the places where wholly subjective criteria rule – …
Academia is only one of the places where wholly subjective criteria rule – and where leftists predominate. Endowed institutions such as foundations and museums likewise often face no test other than what like-minded people find ‘exciting’ and what enables those who run these institutions to get the heady feeling that they are ‘making a difference.’ Thomas Sowell
Dr. Thomas Sowell, Economist and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford, California, Forbes September 8, 1997
Folks is generally down on what they ain’t up on. Unknown …
Folks is generally down on what they ain’t up on.
Unknown
Back when the great society – when the war on poverty began, which …
Back when the great society – when the war on poverty began, which poverty won – from 1965 to 1980 – in those 15 years, the federal budget increased to five times what it had been in Ã65. And the deficit increased to 38 times what it had been just 15 years before. ItÃs built-in, itÃs structural. And you and I need to get representatives not only in the Executive Branch, but out there in the legislature, so that we can change that structure that is so built-in, and that threatens us with so much harm. Ronald Reagan
President, Feb 11, 1988 [And cutting taxes does not cause deficits: Federal Revenues in 1980: $517.1 billion. Federal Revenues in 1989: $990 billion (Congressional Budget Office). Revenues almost doubled, but spending increased by even more.]
Governments stay in power largely by breaking their word. Alan Abelson Barron’…
Governments stay in power largely by breaking their word.
Alan Abelson
Barron’s February 24, 1997