Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2009-09-20 Sep 18, 2009A government that can at pleasure accuse, shoot, and hang men, as traitors, for the one general offence of refusing to surrender themselves and their property unreservedly to its arbitrary will, can practice any and all special and particular oppressions it pleases. The result -- and a natural one -- has been that we have had governments, State and national, devoted to nearly every grade and species of crime that governments have ever practised upon their victims; and these crimes have culminated in a war that has cost a million of lives; a war carried on, upon one side, for chattel slavery, and on the other for political slavery; upon neither for liberty, justice, or truth. And these crimes have been committed, and this war waged, by men, and the descendants of men, who, less than a hundred years ago, said that all men were equal, and could owe neither service to individuals, nor allegiance to governments, except with their own consent.~ Lysander SpoonerNo attempt or pretence, that was ever carried into practical operation amongst civilized men -- unless possibly the pretence of a “Divine Right,” on the part of some, to govern and enslave others -- embodied so much of shameless absurdity, falsehood, impudence, robbery, usurpation, tyranny, and villany of every kind, as the attempt or pretence of establishing a government by consent, and getting the actual consent of only so many as may be necessary to keep the rest in subjection by force. Such a government is a mere conspiracy of the strong against the weak. It no more rests on consent than does the worst government on earth.~ Lysander SpoonerThe strong are always free by virtue of their superior strength. So long as government is a mere contest as to which of two parties shall rule the other, the weaker must always succumb. And whether the contest be carried on with ballots or bullets, the principle is the same; for under the theory of government now prevailing, the ballot either signifies a bullet, or it signifies nothing. And no one can consistently use a ballot, unless he intends to use a bullet, if the latter should be needed to insure submission to the former.~ Lysander Spooner Sep 17, 2009We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.~ Preamble To The United States ConstitutionWherever the real power in a Government lies, there is the danger of oppression. In our Governments the real power lies in the majority of the community, and the invasion of private rights is chiefly to be apprehended, not from acts of Government contrary to the sense of its constituents, but from acts in which the Government is the mere instrument of the major number of the Constituents.~ James MadisonAll the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, nor from want of honor or virtue, so much as downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation.~ John Adams Sep 16, 2009As compared with impulsive commitment to the first idea which dawns, that is, with intuitive action, reasoning is patient, exploratory of other possibilities, and deliberative.~ Edwin Arthur BurttThe power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.~ George Bernard ShawThere is no such thing as the last word in history. There is always scope for debate in the reading of history which is never static.~ Tony Martin Sep 15, 2009Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he'll eat forever.~ Chinese ProverbTell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Let me do and I understand.~ ConfuciusYou miss 100% of the shots you never take.~ Wayne Gretzky Sep 14, 2009The one who throws the stone forgets; the one who is hit remembers forever.~ Angolan ProverbPrefer a loss to a dishonest gain; for the one is painful but once, but the other for one's whole life.~ Chilon of SpartaNothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.~ Franklin P. Adams Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print