Government, Power, Tyranny
& the Lessons of History
Power
"The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse."
James Madison (1751-1836), 4th US President
Source: Speech, Virginia State Convention, 2 December 1829
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/James.Madison.Quote.A7BEWar
"It would be the greatest mistake, certainly, to think that concessions mean peace. Nothing of the kind. Concessions are nothing but a new form of war."
Vladimir Ilyich
Lenin [Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov] (1870 - 1924), First Leader of the Soviet Union
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Vladimir.Lenin.Quote.EC59
Useful Crisis"The war made possible for us the solution of a whole series of problems that could never have been solved in normal times."
Joseph Paul Goebbels, (1897-1945) Nazi Propaganda Minister
Source: The Göebbels Diaries, 1942-1943
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Joseph.Goebbels.Quote.4029"Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed." Mao Tse-Tung, Premier of China (1893 - 1976)
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Mao.Tse-Tung.Quote.0F50Pre-emptive Strike
"A just fear of an imminent danger, though there be no blow given, is a lawful cause of war."
Sir Francis Bacon, (1561-1626) Philosopher, British Lord Chancellor
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Francis.Bacon.Quote.3F77"We must also go out and meet the enemy before he reaches our shores. We must defeat him before he attacks us, before our cities are laid to waste."
William Lyon Mackenzie King, (1874-1950) Prime Minister of Canada
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/William.Lyon.Mackenzie.King.Quote.DB01"There is no telling how many wars it will take to secure freedom in the homeland."
George W. Bush, (1946- ) 43rd US President, Yale Skull & Bones Society
Source: In a speech on August 7, 2002
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/George.Bush.Quote.E20FConstitution & Warnings
"Constitutional rights may not be infringed simply because the majority of the people choose that they be."
Supreme Court of the United States
Source: Westbrook v. Mihaly 2 Cal. 3d 756
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Supreme.Court.of.the.United.States.Quote.A5DF
"In questions of power, then, let no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Thomas.Jefferson.Quote.B6BD
"That frequent recurrence to fundamental principles, ... are absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty, and (to) keep government free; the people... have a right, in a legal way, to exact a due and constant regard to them, from their Legislators and magistrates, in making and executing... laws."
Vermont Declaration of Rights, Article 18th
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Vermont.Declaration.of.Rights.Article.18th.Quote.CBB2"From the utopian viewpoint, the United States constitution is a singularly hard-bitten and cautious document, for it breathes the spirit of skepticism about human altruism and incorporates a complex system of checks, balances and restrictions, so that everybody is holding the reins on everybody else."
Chad Walsh
Source: From Utopia to Nightmare, 1962
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Chad.Walsh.Quote.15EE"If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."
Daniel Webster
“Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord, “who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; Who walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice..." Isaiah 30:1-2
Source: http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca