"In the first place, it is to be remembered, that the general government is not to be charged with the whole power of making and administering laws: its jurisdiction is limited to certain enumerated objects, which concern all the members of the republic, but which are not to be attained by the separate provisions of any." – James Madison (Federalist No. 14, 30 November 1787)
"There is no difference between communism and socialism, except in the means of achieving the same ultimate end: communism proposes to enslave men by force, socialism—by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide." – Ayn Rand, “Foreign Policy Drains U.S. of Main Weapon,” The Los Angeles Times, Sept. 9, 1962
"The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded." – Charles-Louis De Secondat(1689-1755) Baron de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, 1748
"He is able who thinks he is able." – Winston Churchill
"An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.” – Frederic Bastiat
“And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed [are] the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done …
"The duty of government is to leave commerce to its own capital and credit as well as all other branches of business, protecting all in their legal pursuits, granting exclusive privileges to none." – Andrew Jackson
"All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable, when using our forces we must seem inactive, when we are near, we must make the enemy believe that we are away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is superior in strength, evade him. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If …
"How complacent we become when we sit secure, hedged round by laws and protections a government may provide! How soon we forget that but for these governments and laws there would be naught but savagery, brutality and starvation. For our age-old enemies await us always, just beyond our thin walls. Hunger, thirst and cold lie waiting there, and forever among us are those who would loot, rape and maim rather than behave as civilized men. If we sit secure this hour, this day, it is because the thin walls of law stand between us and evil. A jolt of the …
“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help [cometh] from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD [is] thy keeper: the LORD [is] thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy …
“The next amendment is,’A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ One of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their purposes without resistance, is, by disarming the people, and making it an offence to keep arms, and by substituting a regular army in the stead of a resort to the militia. The friends of a free government cannot be too watchful, to overcome the dangerous tendency of the public mind to sacrifice, for the sake of mere private convenience, this …
"The concept most fundamental to long term disaster preparedness, in retreating, is having a safe place to go to avoid the concentrated violence destined to erupt in the cities. When you have a growing apprehensive awareness that the time grows short for you to relocate away from areas of greatest danger, then choose [where you will live] carefully." – Mel Tappan
"What doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"- Micah 6:8 (Carved in stone at the entrance to Baylor Law School)
“It appears we have appointed our worst generals to command forces, and our most gifted and brilliant to edit newspapers! In fact, I discovered by reading newspapers that these editor/geniuses plainly saw all my strategic defects from the start, yet failed to inform me until it was too late. Accordingly, I’m readily willing to yield my command to these obviously superior intellects, and I’ll, in turn, do my best for the Cause by writing editorials – after the fact.” – Robert E. Lee, 1863