Daniel Boorstin

More appealing than knowledge itself,

is the feeling of knowing.

We suffer primarily not from our vices

or our weaknesses, but from our illusions.

-- Daniel Boorstin
The Discoverers

Theodore Roosevelt

Talk softly and carry a big stick.

-- Theodore Roosevelt

Chief Justice Warren Burger

"Those who won our independence believed that the greatest menace
to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political
duty; that this should be a fundamental principle of the American
government. They eschewed silence coerced by law."
-- cited by Thurgood Marshall as part of a conclusion of a
book by Burger

"No, the democratic way of life is not easy. It conveys great

privileges with constant vigilance needed to preserve them. This vigilance must be
maintained by those responsible for the government. And in our country those
responsible are, we the people, no one else. Responsible citizenship is therefore the ...
anchor of our republic. With it we can withstand the storm. Without it, we are helplessly
at sea." -- ibid.
Benjamin Franklin

A nation of well-informed men who

have been taught to know and prize
the rights which God has given them-
cannot be enslaved. It is in the region
of ignorance that tyranny begins.

-- Benjamin Franklin
(recited by Dr. Stuber)

I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such:
because I think a General Government necessary for us, and
there is no Form of Government but what may be a Blessing
to the People if well-administred; and I believe farther that
this is likely to be well administred for a Course of Years and
can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before
it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need
Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.

-- Benjamin Franklin
Address to the Philadelphia Convention, 1787

Thomas Jefferson
…That to secure these rights,
Governments are constituted
among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the
governed.

-- Thomas Jefferson, 1776

Declaration of Independence

Abraham Lincoln
"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it?
Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow?
Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our
own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take
a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what
point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring
up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its
author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. The
Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume I, "Address Before the
Young Men's Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois (January 27, 1838), p. 109.
Sinclair Lewis

If fascism ever comes to America,

It will be wrapped in the flag
And carrying the cross.

--Sinclair Lewis
[source]

James Madison

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels

were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government
would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered
by men over men…you must first enable the government to control the
governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on
the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but
experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

Full quote from Federalist #51

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to
govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In
framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty
lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next
place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary
control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary
precautions.

Thurgood Marshall
When justice dies in the hearts of men,
no Constitution can protect it.
-- Justice Thurgood Marshall
[citation]
 The framers of the Constitution recognized that
responsiveness to the will of the majority may, if
unchecked, become a tyranny of the majority.
--Justice Thurgood Marshall
Second Circuit Judicial Conference, May8,1981

Gouverneur Morris

We The People … ordain and

establish… this Constitution…

-- Gouverneur Morris
Constitution of the United States
Philadelphia, 1787

Barack Obama

Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let
our politics reflect that spirit as well.

--Barack Obama
Philadelphia
March 18, 2008

Will Rogers

We have the best Congress money can buy.

-- Will Rogers
Gore Vidal
Although the language of
amendments and constitutional
articles are admirably plain,
interested interpreters have often
displayed great ingenuity in
fiddling with their meaning.

-- Gore Vidal
Inventing a Nation