- “Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.” –John Adams, A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765
Liberty must at all hazards be supported . . .
Every new regulation . . .
- “Every new regulation concerning commerce or revenue; or in any manner affecting the value of the different species of property, presents a new harvest to those who watch the change and can trace its consequences; a harvest reared not by themselves but by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow citizens.” –James Madison (likely), Federalist No. 62
Historic Views of Liberty . . .
- “The greatest [calamity] which could befall [us would be] submission to a government of unlimited powers.” –Thomas Jefferson, Declaration and Protest of Virginia, 1825. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, (Memorial Edition) Lipscomb and Bergh, editors, ME 17:445
- “Every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact (casus non faederis) to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits. Without this right, they would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them.” –Thomas Jefferson, Draft Kentucky Resolutions, 1798. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, (Memorial Edition) Lipscomb and Bergh, editors ME 17:387
- “The only greater [evil] than separation… [is] living under a government of discretion.” –Thomas Jefferson to William Gordon, 1826. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, (Memorial Edition) Lipscomb and Bergh, editors, ME 10:358
Where liberty dwells . . .
- “Where liberty dwells, there is my country.” –Benjamin Franklin (attributed), letter to Benjamin Vaughn, March 14, 1783
The greatest calamity . . .
- “The greatest [calamity] which could befall [us would be] submission to a government of unlimited powers.” –Thomas Jefferson, Declaration and Protest of Virginia, 1825. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, (Memorial Edition) Lipscomb and Bergh, editors, ME 17:445
When all government is drawn to Washington . . .
- “When all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of all power, it will render powerless the checks provided of one government on another and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” –Thomas Jefferson to Charles Hammond, 1821. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, (Memorial Edition) Lipscomb and Bergh, editors, ME 15:332
The flames kindled . . .
- “The flames kindled on the 4th of July, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them.” —Thomas Jefferson
To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind . . .
- “To cherish and stimulate the activity of the human mind, by multiplying the objects of enterprise, is not among the least considerable of the expedients, by which the wealth of a nation may be promoted.” –Alexander Hamilton, Report on Manufactures, December, 1791
Work as if . . .
- “Work as if you were to live 100 Years, Pray as if you were to die To-morrow.” –Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1757
An elective despotism . . .
- “An elective despotism was not the government we fought for, but one which should not only be founded on true free principles, but in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among general bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.” –Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia Q. XIII, 1782. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, (Memorial Edition) Lipscomb and Bergh, editors ME 2:163
