The Deterioration of Government

The deterioration of every government begins with
the decay of the principles on which it was founded
~Charles-Louis de Secondat

• “No man who is corrupt, no man who condones corruption in others, can possibly do his duty by the community.” ~Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
  

• “We are teaching the world the great truth that Governments do better without Kings & Nobles than with them. The merit will be doubled by the other lesson that Religion Flourishes in greater purity, without than with the aid of Government.” ~James Madison (1822)
  

• “I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom.” ~Thomas Jefferson (1816)
  

• “It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth.” ~Patrick Henry (1775)
  

• “Is there a greater tragedy imaginable than that, in our endeavor consciously to shape our future in accordance with high ideals, we should in fact unwittingly produce the very opposite of what we have been striving for?” ~August von Hayek (1899-1992)
  

• “A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy.” ~Samuel Adams (1779)
  

• “It is a principle incorporated into the settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, war is better than tribute.” ~James Madison (1816)
  

• “I would rather starve and rot and keep the privilege of speaking the truth as I see it, than of holding all the offices that capital has to give from the presidency down.” ~Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918)
  

• Wish not so much to live long as to live well.” ~Benjamin Franklin (1746)
  

• “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” ~Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)