Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2015-03-31 Mar 31, 2015[O]ur sages in the great [constitutional] convention... intended our government should be a republic which differs more widely from a democracy than a democracy from a despotism. The rigours of a despotism often... oppress only a few, but it is the very essence and nature of a democracy, for a faction claiming to oppress a minority, and that minority the chief owners of the property and truest lovers of their country.~ Fisher AmesThe government of the absolute majority is but the government of the strongest interests; and when not effectively checked, is the most tyrannical and oppressive that can be devised... [To read the Constitution is to realize that] no free system was ever farther removed from the principle that the absolute majority, without check or limitation, ought to govern.~ John C. CalhounAbsolute, arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and property of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority.~ Wyoming Declaration of Rights Art. I, Sec. 7 Mar 30, 2015A constitution is not the act of a government, but of a people constituting a government; and government without a constitution is power without a right. All power exercised over a nation, must have some beginning. It must be either delegated, or assumed. There are not other sources. All delegated power is trust, and all assumed power is usurpation. Time does not alter the nature and quality of either.~ Thomas PaineIf every person has the right to defend -- even by force -- his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows that a group of men have the right to organize and support a common force to protect these rights constantly. Thus the principle of collective right -- its reason for existing, its lawfulness -- is based on individual right. And the common force that protects this collective right cannot logically have any other purpose or any other mission than that for which it acts as a substitute. Thus, since an individual cannot lawfully use force against the person, liberty, or property of another individual, then the common force -- for the same reason -- cannot lawfully be used to destroy the person, liberty, or property of individuals or groups.~ Frederic BastiatAll lawful authority, legislative, and executive, originates from the people.~ James Burgh Mar 27, 2015Our Founders warned us that all republics have eventually fallen into tyranny -- the only difference being the relative timeline of each republic's descent. ... From the summer of 1787 when our Framers deliberated over their magnificent Constitution, we have recognized that the clear statement and equal application of the Law is among the most critical duties of any government. If we allow ourselves to lose this, we may as well be back in ancient Rome, subject to the whim of every petty tyrant in the taxing bureau or the zoning board. For it doesn't matter whether the regulator's foot is shod in a jack boot or a Roman sandal; if he can hold you down with that boot upon your neck, then we are no longer in the America that our Founding Fathers intended for us.~ John F. Di LeoThe doctrine of blind obedience and unqualified submission to any human power, whether civil or ecclesiastical, is the doctrine of despotism, and ought to have no place among Republicans and Christians.~ Angelica GrimkeWhen one person can initiate war, by its definition, a republic no longer exists.~ Dr. Ron Paul Mar 26, 2015The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money.~ Alexis de TocquevilleWhen the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.~ Benjamin FranklinThe Republican form of government is the highest form of government; but because of this it requires the highest type of human nature -- a type nowhere at present existing.~ Herbert Spencer Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print