Dear Friend of Liberty,
It brings me great joy to celebrate 20 years of the Liberty Quotes Daily Email! In October 2000, we sent our first mailing of Liberty Quotes.
Our intention has been steadfast and simple: to keep the vigil for Liberty going. |
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"I apprehend no danger to our country from a foreign foe ... Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. -- From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants, and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the instruments of their own undoing. Make them intelligent, and they will be vigilant; give them the means of detecting the wrong, and they will apply the remedy."
~ Daniel Webster
(1782-1852) US Senator
June 1, 1837; Works 1:403 |
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"The search for the truth is the noblest occupation of man;
its publication is a duty."
~ Anne Louise Germaine de Stael
(1766-1817) French author |
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| Needless to say, 2020 has been a remarkable year -- and it isn't over yet. With the US elections just days away, your humble Editor cannot remember a time when the battle lines were drawn so clearly between individual Liberty and the supremacy of the State. Forget about the -isms. |
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"Authority intoxicates,
And makes mere sots of magistrates;
The fumes of it invade the brain,
And make men giddy, proud and vain."
~ Samuel Butler
(1835-1902) Victorian-era English author |
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| We are witnessing the politicization of everything. I suppose the influencers believe that if they can frame every stream of content with political messaging in news, sports, at work, in social media, in movies, in board rooms, conference calls, everywhere, that we will eventually succumb to the propaganda. Cancel culture demands one party rule. |
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"Politics, as a practise, whatever its professions,
has always been the systematic organization of hatreds."
~ Henry Brooks Adams
(1838-1918) Pulitzer prize-winning historian (1919), great-grandson of John Adams, grandson of John Quincy Adams, and son of US Secretary of State, Charles Adams
The Education of Henry Adams, ch. 1 (1907) |
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"When it becomes dominated by a collectivist creed,
democracy will inevitably destroy itself."
~ Friedrich August von Hayek
(1899-1992), Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences 1974
The Road to Serfdom, pg 73 (1944) |
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"The real guarantee of freedom
is an equilibrium of social forces in conflict,
not the triumph of any one force."
~ Max Eastman
(1883-1969) American writer, poet, political activist
Reflections on the Failure of Socialism, 1955 |
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But what about the American Mind?
One of the more surprising demands of the looters rioting over the Summer in Portland, DC, NYC and Chicago was to "end capitalism." What does that have to do with police brutality and criminal justice reform? As Covid hospitalizations declined and hospitals became half empty, I was surprised to see health care providers protesting that the real health crisis in America was 'systemic racism.' The Smithsonian's exhibit on Whiteness claimed that "rugged individualism" is an example of whiteness normalized into a standard practice of institutional power. Other qualities of whiteness included a nuclear family, objective rational thinking, and 'work before play.' Perhaps it's not whiteness but the traditions of a free and responsible community. Dare I say, the American Way. |
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"Private capitalism makes a steam engine;
State capitalism makes pyramids."
~ Frank Chodorov
(1887-1966) American author, publisher |
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"The power of the Right is principle,
and the principle of the Left is power.
Understand this and you will understand
the basis of modern politics."
~ J.T. Young
"What It Means That The Right Is Animated By Principle And The Left By Power," 4 Sep 2017 |
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"The merit of our Constitution was,
not that it promotes democracy,
but checks it."
~ Horatio Seymour
(1810-1886) Governor of New York |
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| While the governors justify their power grabs in the name of security, shall we ignore the outcomes? Outcomes including the tracking and regulating of church attendance, fines and punishments for unauthorized gatherings, rules for the number of people allowed on private property, social media scrubbed of any dissenting views, wide-scale voter fraud, businesses forced closed, population under house arrest, capitalism stopped, forced purchase of goods, laws preventing any rites of passage including but not limited to weddings, funerals, graduations, etc.. Reporting of neighbors for breaking these rules. No parties, no festivals, no human contact, no joy. Violent protests are 'essential.' Is this not a war on the culture itself? On America? |
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"The jaws of power are always open to devour,
and her arm is always stretched out, if possible,
to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing."
~ John Adams
(1735-1826) Founding Father, 2nd US President |
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"No government knows any limits to its power except the endurance of the people."
~ Lysander Spooner
(1808-1887) Political theorist, activist, abolitionist |
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"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern."
~ Lord Acton
[John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton] (1834-1902), First Baron Acton of Aldenham |
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| What's encouraged? Tearing down historical monuments, renaming/rewording/rewriting the past, demanding reparations, rioting, looting, racial grievances, anarchy, double-speak, end to capitalism, burn this system to the ground, by any means necessary... This is straight out of the playbooks of Lenin and Mao. |
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"The possession of unlimited power will make a despot of almost any man. There is a possible Nero in the gentlest human creature that walks."
~ Thomas Bailey Aldrich
(1836-1907)
Ponkapog Papers, 1903 |
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"Thus arbitrary power will have divided men
of superior intelligence into two groups:
the former will be seditious, the latter corrupt..."
~ Benjamin Constant
[Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque] (1767-1830) Swiss-born thinker, writer and French politician.
The Spirit of Conquest and Usurpation (1814), reprinted in Political Writings, translated and edited by Bancamaria Fontana (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), p. 126. Later editions than the 1814 one had "despotism" instead of "abitrary power." |
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"There have existed, in every age and every country,
two distinct orders of men -- the lovers of freedom
and the devoted advocates of power."
~ Robert Y. Hayne
(1791-1839 ) U.S. Senator for S.C.
Speech, 21 January 1830 |
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| At the heart of the Leftist re-programming of society is Identity Politics. "How do you self-identify?" is merely a twisted version of "Who are you?" I was told that I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, but I never imagined I could identity as a 'they' or 'non-binary' (I still don't know what that means) or as a different sex and get to compete against and shower with the girls. ;-) It appears to be an effort to corrupt the search for truth itself. Apparently the mystery of life has been solved, and who'd have thunk it: I am a racist, misogynist, privileged, capitalist [fill in the blank]. The name-calling doesn't concern me, it's the suggested solutions to this 'systemic white supremacy.' |
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"This is why political correctness, or Cultural Marxism,... lends itself so fashionably to easy labels. Transphobic, homophobic, xenophobic, racist, bigoted, Uncle Tom, white privilege, mainsplaining. All of these are slapped on people with "politically incorrect" opinions in an attempt to silence you. ...
Hate speech is inextricably tied to political correctness, or Cultural Marxism, and that creates intellectual conformity -- or intellectual authoritarianism. And that’s where you start to see things like “safe spaces” or “trigger warnings” or speakers banned from campus, or people with unpopular opinions banned from social media."
~ Steven Crowder
(1987-) Canadian-American actor, comedian, and political commentator
Why 'Hate Speech' Doesn't Exist, 12/10/2016 |
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"There is but one straight course, and
that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily."
~ George Washington
(1732-1799) Founding Father, 1st US President, 'Father of the Country', letter to Edmund Randolph, 1795 |
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"The battle for the world is the battle for definitions."
~ Thomas Szasz
(1920-2012) Hungarian-American professor of psychiatry, author, Libertarian |
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| I suppose the biggest insult is to be given 'the answer' to why I am here. Not surprisingly, who they have set me up to be is but a pawn in the bigger game of profiting off my labors. Funny how that works out. |
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"Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us?"
~ Justice William O. Douglas
(1898-1980), U. S. Supreme Court Justice |
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"Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all."
~ Peter Drucker
(1909-2005) American writer, management consultant, and self-described “social ecologist.” Widely considered to be the father of “modern management." |
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"Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it."
~ Milton Friedman
(1912-2006) Nobel Prize-winning economist, economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan, "ultimate guru of the free-market system" |
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| Ultimately the answer to why you are here lies with you -- it is the very basis of free will. Heaven and Earth await your answer and respond in kind. The fact is that we answer that question every day through our thoughts, words, and actions. Our free expression of hearts and minds engenders a response from the world -- this is the 'dialogue.' A free and honest dialogue leads to liberation from the bondage of a false narrative designed not to empower but to yoke. |
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"Knowledge and human power are synonymous."
~ Sir Francis Bacon
(1561-1626) Philosopher, British Lord Chancellor |
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"Every happening, great and small,
is a parable whereby God speaks to us,
and the art of life is to get the message."
~ Malcolm Muggeridge
(1903-1990) British journalist, author, media personality, satirist |
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"If all men are created equal, that is final.
If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final.
If governments derive their just powers
from the consent of the governed, that is final.
No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions."
~ John Adams
(1735-1826) Founding Father, 2nd US President
In a speech commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence |
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| As we face the coming days, the real election is about who the People want to be -- how we 'self-identify.' Who am I? What am I about? What can I be counted on for? How much do I value Liberty for myself and others? Who am I to others? Am I a contribution or a drain? |
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"The liberty of the individual
is the greatest thing of all,
it is on this and this alone that
the true will of the people can develop."
~ Alexander Ivanovich Herzen
(1812- 1870)
From the Other Shore, 1849 |
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"Sell not virtue to purchase wealth,
nor Liberty to purchase power."
~ Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) US Founding Father
Benjamin Franklin, in the Poor Richard's Almanack of 1738 |
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| Thank you for your support over the last 20 years! It's been a labor of love for your esteemed Editor, but your donations have kept Liberty Quotes alive these many years. We never figured out how to make a living doing this. If you are so inclined to support us further, please click on the donation link. |
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"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
~ Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President |
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Wishing you the happiest of holidays -- don't let them cancel Thanksgiving and Christmas -- make gatherings peaceful protests against the overreach of the Crown. Those unlawful edicts have no force upon a free People!
Thank you!
Eric Schaub
Editor/Publisher LibertyTree.ca |
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