The first necessary step, then, is to depute power from the many to a few of the most wise and good. Discover and share Founding Fathers Quotes On Government. That, as a republic is the best of governments, so that particular arrangements of the powers of society, or, in other words, that form of government which is best contrived to secure an impartial and exact execution of the laws, is the best of republics. Founding Fathers Quotes on Government, Democracy, and Placing Power in the People; Founding Fathers Quotes on Government, Democracy, and Placing Power in the People . As good government is an empire of laws, how shall your laws be made? You're free to republish or share any of our articles (either in part or in full), which are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The fundamental law of the militia is, that it be created, directed and commanded by the laws, and ever for the support of the laws. Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics. In a large society, inhabiting an extensive country, it is impossible that the whole should assemble to make laws. That ambition which is inspired by it makes them sober, industrious, and frugal. #620 Arlington, VA 22201, New! There is no good government but what is republican. They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty. “Jefferson: Political Writings”, p.224, Cambridge University Press, There is a mistake in the text of this quote. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused.” – John Jay, Letter to R. Lushington, 1786, “One of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one’s house. The rich, the well-born, and the able, acquire and influence among the people that will soon be too much for simple honesty and plain sense, in a house of representatives. That elevation of sentiment inspired by such a government, makes the common people brave and enterprising. Explore our collection of motivational and famous quotes by authors you know and love. The Founding Fathers were a diverse group of people. It is error alone which needs the support of government. That, as a republic is the best of governments, so that particular arrangement of the powers of society, or in other words, that form of government which is best contrived to secure an impartial and exact execution of the law, is the best of republics. The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. Wear none of thine own chains; but keep free, whilst thou art free. It already appears, that there must be in every society of men superiors and inferiors, because God has laid in the constitution and course of nature the foundations of the distinction. From this principle it will follow that the form of government which communicates ease, comfort, security, or, in one word, happiness, to the greatest numbers of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best. Click for free lesson on Benjamin Franklin. There must be a positive passion for the public good, the public interest, honour, power and glory, established in the minds of the people, or there can be no republican government, nor any real liberty: and this public passion must be superior to all private passions. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. America has set the example … of charters of power granted by liberty. 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.". We have no government armed with power capable of … I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Founders’ Quotes on Founding Principles. Discover and share Big Government Quotes Founding Fathers. Individual Liberty “Liberty must at all hazards be supported. 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, 1765, “Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. If there is a form of government, then, whose principle and foundation is virtue, will not every sober man acknowledge it better calculated to promote the general happiness than any other form? Laws for the liberal education of the youth, especially of the lower class of the people, are so extremely wise and useful, that, to a humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant. The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases. It is the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the SUPREME BEING, the great Creator and Preserver of the universe. Explore our collection of motivational and famous quotes by authors you know and love. I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it. That the only valuable part of the British constitution is so; for the true idea of a republic is "an empire of laws, and not of men." We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. We ought to consider what is the end of government before we determine which is the best form. To suppose arms in the hands of citizens, to be used at individual discretion, except in private self-defense, or by partial orders of towns, counties or districts of a state, is to demolish every constitution, and lay the laws prostrate, so that liberty can be enjoyed by no man; it is a dissolution of the government. Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends, Letter to William Stephens Smith, 13 Nov. 1787, Letter to Archibald Stewart, 23 Dec. 1791, Notes on the State of Virginia, query 17 (1781 - 1785), Thomas Jefferson, Joyce Appleby, Terence Ball (1999). Click for free lesson on Charles Carroll. The honour of the States, as well as justice and humanity, in my opinion, loudly call upon them to emancipate these unhappy people. Every day we present the best quotes! Upon this point all speculative politicians will agree, that the happiness of society is the end of government, as all divines and moral philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual is the end of man. Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties, and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of people, it shall be the duty of legislators and magistrates... to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them. Freedom and not servitude is the cure of anarchy; as religion, and not atheism, is the true remedy for superstition. An equal dispensation of protection, rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought to enjoy.” – Benjamin Franklin, Emblematical Representations, ca. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the world – no longer a government of free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and vote of majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men…I am a most unhappy man. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever. The most illustrious of them must, therefore, be separated from the mass, and placed by themselves in a senate; this is, to all honest and useful intents, an ostracism. In fine, the people of this commonwealth are not controllable by any other laws than those to which their constitutional representative body have given their consent. FoundingFatherQuotes.com - This site is dedicated to the US Founding Fathers, their Quotes, Documents, Biographies, Genealogy, and Writings are preserved here for everyone to read. But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it. Click for free lesson on Benjamin Franklin, “Liberty must at all hazards be supported. Explore our collection of motivational and famous quotes by authors you know and love. Click for free lesson on James Wilson. Upon this point all speculative politicians will agree that the happiness of society is the end of government, as all divines and moral philosophers will agree that the happiness of the individual is the end of man....All sober inquirers after truth, ancient and modern, pagan and Christian, have declared that the happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy. But no part of the property of any individual can, with justice, be taken from him, or applied to public uses, without his own consent, or that of the representative body of the people.

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