Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2009-12-08 Dec 8, 2009Under our form of government, the legislature is not supreme ... like other departments of government, it can only exercise such powers as have been delegated to it, and when it steps beyond that boundary, its acts, like those of the most humble magistrate in the state who transcends his jurisdiction, are utterly void.~ Billings v. HallA Fatal Tendency of Mankind. Self-preservation and self-development are common aspirations among all people. And if everyone enjoyed the unrestricted use of his faculties and the free disposition of the fruits of his labor, social progress would be ceaseless, uninterrupted, and unfailing. But there is also another tendency that is common among people. When they can, they wish to live and prosper at the expense of others. This is no rash accusation. Nor does it come from a gloomy and uncharitable spirit. The annals of history bear witness to the truth of it: the incessant wars, mass migrations, religious persecutions, universal slavery, dishonesty in commerce, and monopolies. This fatal desire has its origin in the very nature of man -- in that primitive, universal, and insuppressible instinct that impels him to satisfy his desires with the least possible pain.~ Frederic BastiatWhen the representative body have lost the confidence of their constituents, when they have notoriously made sale of their most valuable rights, when they have assumed to themselves powers which the people never put into their hands, then indeed their continuing in office becomes dangerous to the State, and calls for an exercise of the power of dissolution.~ Thomas Jefferson Dec 7, 2009The freedom of speech and the freedom of the press have not been granted to the people in order that they may say things which please, and which are based upon accepted thought, but the right to say things which displease, the right to say the things which convey the new and yet unexpected thoughts, the right to say things, even though they do a wrong.~ Samuel GompersWe create an environment where it is alright to hate, to steal, to cheat, and to lie if we dress it up with symbols of respectability, dignity and love.~ Whitney Moore, Jr.Are right and wrong convertible terms, dependant upon popular opinion?~ William Lloyd Garrison Dec 4, 2009Armaments, universal debt and planned obsolescence - those are the three pillars of Western prosperity.~ Aldous HuxleyPeople have become as processed as food.~ Astrid AlaudaThe world is so dreadfully managed, one hardly knows to whom to complain.~ Ronald Firbank Dec 3, 2009Nothing can be more readily disproved than the old saw, "You can't keep a good man down." Most human societies have been beautifully organized to keep good men down.~ John W. GardnerSociety honors its living conformists and its dead troublemakers.~ Mignon McLaughlinAnother perceived attribute of intellectuals that needs rethinking and revision: the assumption that they are deeply and unequivocally committed to personal, political and intellectual freedom and especially free expression…many Western intellectuals’ commitment to intellectual freedom is selective at best.~ Paul Hollander Dec 2, 2009Society is always engaged in a vast conspiracy to preserve itself -- at the expense of the new demands of each new generation.~ John Haynes HolmesSocial reform aims to improve the condition of the poor by worsening the condition of the rich.~ Martin H. FischerUsually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, but just terrible things.~ Russell Baker Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print