“It is a sad commentary on human affairs, down to our day, that ‘sweet reasonableness’ and sensible quiet argument never get very far as such-that nothing gets done until a sizable bloc of people gets organized and starts raising enough h*ll to persuade those in power that they had better start listening to what is being said.” – George F. Willison “Patrick Henry and His World”
“It is constantly reiterated that education begins in the home, as indeed it does, but what is often forgotten is that morality begins in the home also.” – Louis L’Amour, “Education of a Wandering Man“
"The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected." – Will Rogers
"[T]he value of doing something does not lie in the ease or difficulty, the probability or improbability of its achievement, but in the vision, the plan, the determination and the perseverance, the effort and the struggle which go into the project. Life is enriched by aspiration and effort, rather than by acquisition and accumulation.- Helen and Scott Nearing, Living the Good Life
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." – James Madison, to the Virginia ratifying Convention, June 16, 1788.
"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty." – John F. Kennedy
"The will to survive is not as important as the will to prevail . . . the answer to criminal aggression is retaliation." – The Late Col. Jeff Cooper, 1993.
"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." – Elmer Davis
“I have benefited greatly from criticism,” he said, borrowing a line from Winston Churchill, “and at no time have I suffered a lack thereof.” – Departing Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
“Lunches don’t get free just because you don’t see the prices on the menu. And economists don’t get popular by reminding people of that.” – Thomas Sowell
“I have never been taken with the idea of selling a gun. When you possess a firearm, you possess something of importance. If you trade it for cash, you have lost it – and the cash in your hand will soon be gone. Sell something else! – The Late Jeff Cooper, Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries, June 11, 1993
“It is customary in democratic countries to deplore expenditures on armament as conflicting with the requirements of the social services. There is a tendency to forget that the most important social service that a government can do for its people is to keep them alive and free.” – RAF Air Marshall Sir John Slessor
"Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them." – Justice Joseph Story (1779-1845) US Supreme Court Justice
“We ran into a pleasant interlude up in Vermont which emphasized the wisdom and social utility of the Vermont firearms laws. It seems that some foreigner from down below was in a supermarket when he observed one of the customers wearing a pistol openly. He got all flustered and immediately called 911. In due course a cop showed up and located the complainer, who pointed out the “culprit.” The cop agreed that the man really was carrying a pistol, and then he asked what the problem was. I suppose the poor fellow rushed off out the door and went back …
“Do not try to live on your enemies’ terms or to win at a game where they’re setting the rules. Do not seek the favor of those who enslaved you, do not beg for alms from those who have robbed you, be it subsidies, loans or jobs, do not join their team to recoup what they’ve taken by helping them rob your neighbors.” – Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged