The deterioration of every government begins with
the decay of the principles on which it was founded
~Charles-Louis de Secondat
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The Deterioration of Government
- “We should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections.” ~John Adams (1797)
- “Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government. It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks; it is not less essential to the steady administration of the laws; to the protection of property against those irregular and high-handed combinations which sometimes interrupt the ordinary course of justice; to the security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of anarchy.” ~Alexander Hamilton (1788)
- “Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.” ~James Madison (1788)
- “Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.” ~George Washington (1748)
- “It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts.” ~Patrick Henry, 1775
- “Industry is increased, commodities are multiplied, agriculture and manufacturers flourish: and herein consists the true wealth and prosperity of a state.” ~Alexander Hamilton (1790)
- “Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party generally.” ~George Washington (1796)
- “It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it.” ~James Madison
