Us Founding Fathers Quotes - Page 2

• Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States.

  Noah Webster

  Army, Gun, Power

  Noah Webster (1787). “An Examination Into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution Proposed by the Late Convention Held at Philadelphia: With Answers to the Principal Objections that Have Been Raised Against the System”, p.43

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  If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom - go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

  Samuel Adams

  Love, Peace, Freedom

  Samuel Adams' Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, August 1, 1776.

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  If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

  James Madison

  Inspirational, Freedom, Fear

  "The Last Enemy" by Rebecca Sato, www.pbs.org. November 11, 2010.

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• A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves... and include all men capable of bearing arms.

  Richard Henry Lee

  4th Of July, Men, Gun

  Richard Henry Lee, Mercy Otis Warren (1962). “An Additional number of letters from the Federal farmer to the Republican, leading to a fair examination of the system of government, proposed by the late Convention: to several essential and necessary alterations in it; and calculated to illustrate and support the principles and positions laid down in the preceding letters. Together with Oberservations on the new Constitution, and on the Federal and State Conventions by a Columbian patriot”

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• Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.

  James Madison

  Bible, God, Education

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• That the said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience.

  John Adams

  Gun, Rights, Second Amendment

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• If ever again our nation stumbles upon unfunded paper, it shall surely be like death to our body politic. This country will crash.

  George Washington

  Country, Paper, Body

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• Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

  George Washington

  Education, Wisdom, Religious

  Noah Webster, George Washington (1806). “Elements of useful knowledge: containing a historical and geographical account of the United States”, p.217

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• Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Gun, Law, Strong Arms

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• Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.

  Thomas Paine

  Motivation, Fear, Gun

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  We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Freedom, Men, Democracies Have

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• It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God.

  George Washington

  Thanksgiving, Presidential, Duty To God

  Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, Issued by President George Washington, at the request of Congress, on October 3, 1789

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• Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.

  John Adams

  Freedom, Government, Forever

  Abigail Adams, John Adams, L. H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlaender, Mary-Jo Kline (1975). “The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784”, p.95, UPNE

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• It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Religious, Truth, Freedom

  Notes on the State of Virginia, query 17 (1781 - 1785)

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  The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.

  John Quincy Adams

  Bible, God, Religious

  Letter to an autograph collector from Washington on April 27, 1837, The Historical Magazine, archive.org. July 1860.

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• We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!

  John Adams

  Bible, God, Religious

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  The Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms.

  Samuel Adams

  Gun, Strong Arms, People

  Debates of the Massachusetts Convention, 1788.

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• I believe ... that the soul of man is immortal and will be treated with justice in another life, respecting its conduct in this.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Karma, Believe, Men

  Benjamin Franklin, William Temple Franklin (1818). “Memoirs of the life and writings of Benjamin Franklin ...”, p.131, Printed for H. Colborn

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  To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.

  George Mason

  Strength, Peace, Gun

  George Mason's address to the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 14, 1788.

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• The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Life, Time, Godly

  Thomas Jefferson (1774). “A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)”, p.31, Academic Resources Corp

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• Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

  George Washington

  Memorial Day, War, 4th Of July

  George Washington (1810). “Washington's Farewell Address to the People of the United States”, p.17

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• For my part, I sincerely esteem the Constitution, a system which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interests.

  Alexander Hamilton

  4th Of July, Diversity, Constitution

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• And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.

  James Madison

  Past, Government, Doubt

  James Madison, David B. Mattern (1997). “James Madison's "Advice to My Country"”, p.89, University of Virginia Press

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• No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.

  Noah Webster

  Christian, Rights, Government

  Noah Webster (1843). “A Collection of Papers on Political, Literary, and Moral Subjects”, p.291

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• Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have remover their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Inspirational, Bible, God

  Notes on the State of Virginia, query 18 (1781 - 1785)

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