"The rights of conscience, of bearing arms, of changing the government, are declared to be inherent in the people. Freedom of the press, too."

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““But differ greatly in the sequel.” --Fisher Ames, when confronted with the declaration that all men are created equal”

“Fisher Ames expressed the popular security more wisely, when he compared a monarchy and a republic, saying, "that a monarchy is a merchantman, which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock, and go to the bottom; whilst a republic is a raft, which would never sink, but then your feet are always in water.”

“The gentleman puts me in mind of an old hen which persists in setting after her eggs are taken away.”

““intended our government should be a republic, which differs more widely from a democracy than a democracy from a despotism.”

“It was said by Fisher Ames that “falsehood proceeds from Maine to Georgia, while truth is pulling on his boots”.”

“Liberty has never yet lasted long in a democracy; nor has it ever ended in any thing better than despotism.”

Resonant Thoughts

"All fashionable clothes, as Thorstein Veblen has pointed out in his Theory of the Leisure Class , are highly symbolic: materials, cut, and ornament are dictated only to a slight degree by consideratio…"

— S. I. Hayakawa

Politics1906–1992

#freedom

"The Rooneys are the finest people, the people I most respect in American sports ownership. I've always felt that way. And there's no reason to change. They are people of integrity and character... I h…"

— Howard Cosell

Sports1918–1995

#ethics

"Strength of our culture to some extent has compensated the lack of formal education. That is how people could vote wisely in these massive elections. After all, it was the ordinary, illiterate people …"

— K. R. Narayanan

Politics1920–2005

#knowledge

"What did this long-range goodwill mean, and what did it say about the social contract that allowed a rich man to free all of his descendents from the need to work over the course of almost two centuri…"

— Edward St. Aubyn

Literature1837–1914

#freedom