Government:
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= A society which would trade a little liberty for a little order =
= will lose both and deserve neither. -- Thomas Jefferson =
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= They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little =
= temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. --Ben Franklin =
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= Man's rights do not depend on his ability to feel pain; they depend =
= on his ability to think. -- Edwin A. Locke =
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= The more a regime claims to be the embodiment of liberty the more =
= tyrranical it is likely to be. - Sir Ian Gilmour M.P. =
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= Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It =
= is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. -William Pitt=
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= Private property was the original source of freedom. It still is =
= its main bulwark. -- Walter Lippmann =
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= A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big =
= enough to take it all away. - Barry Goldwater =
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= A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can =
= only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote =
= themselves largess out of the public treasury. -- Alexander Tytler =
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= We clamor for equality chiefly in matters in which we ourselves =
= cannot hope to obtain excellence. --Eric Hoffer =
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= Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like =
= fire, it is a dangerous servant and a terrible master. =
= -- George Washington =
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= Socialism is the equal distribution of poverty. =
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= Respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a =
= free and prosperous world, ... and that only through freedom can =
= peace and prosperity be realized. =
= -- Preamble to the Libertarian Platform =
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= Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect =
= liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to =
= freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by =
= evilminded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious=
= encroachment by men of zeal, wellmeaning but without understanding. =
= -- Justice Louis D. Brandeis =
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= A free society is a place where it's safe to be unpopular. =
= -- Adlai Stevenson =
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... God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is
lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... And what
country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not warned from
time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let
them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon
and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The
tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of
patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
-- Thomas Jefferson, Nov. 13, 1787
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= Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being =
= governed by those who are dumber. -- Plato =
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= The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than =
= golf has. -- Will Rogers =
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= Philosophy enables a man to do, without external control, that =
= which others do because of fear of the laws. -- Aristotle =
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= If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude =
= better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in =
= peace. We ask not your counsel or your arms. Crouch down and lick =
= the hands of those who feed you. May your chains set lightly upon =
= you. May posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." =
= - Samuel Adams =
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= There are none so enslaved as those who false believe they are free.=
= - Goethe =
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Ayn Rand:
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= If it is now the belief of my fellow men, who call themselves the =
= public, that their good requires victims, then I say: The public =
= good be damned, I will have no part of it! =
= -- Hank Rearden & Ayn Rand =
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= I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for =
= the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine. =
= -- John Galt & Ayn Rand =
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= As we gain knowledge, we do not become more certain, we become =
= certain of more. -- Ayn Rand =
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= Compromise does not satisfy, but dissatisfies everybody; it does =
= not lead to general fulfillment, but to general frustration; those =
= who try to become all things to all men, end up by not being =
= anything to anyone. -- Ayn Rand =
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= I love you, my dearest, with that blindest passion of my body which =
= comes from the clearest perception of my mind. =
= -- Hank Rearden & Ayn Rand =
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= Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The =
= savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. =
= Civilization is the process of setting man free from men. --Ayn Rand=
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Humor:
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= We tend to scoff at the beliefs of the ancients. But we can't scoff =
= at them personally, to their faces, and this is what annoys me. =
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= Abstinence is a good thing if practiced in moderation. =
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= If I had a mine shaft, I don't think I would just abandon it. =
= There's got to be a better way. -- Jack Handey =
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= When people run around and around in circles we say they are crazy. =
= When planets do it we say they are orbiting. -- Anonymous 6th grader=
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= I wasn't kissing her, I was whispering into her mouth. -- Chico Marx=
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= We have enough youth, how about a fountain of "smart?" =
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= Why is "abbreviation" such a long word? =
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= I doubt; therefore I might be. =
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= I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally. -- W.C. Fields=
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= Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do. =
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= I would like to take you seriously but to do so would affront your =
= intelligence. -- William F. Buckley, Jr. =
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= Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother =
= and child. -- Senator Dan Quayle =
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= Women should be obscene and not heard. -- Groucho Marx =
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= Some people have a large circle of friends while others have only =
= friends that they like. =
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Progress:
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= Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes=
= off your goal. -- Henry Ford =
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= There is no try, only do; only can or cannot. -- Yoda =
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= It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has=
= done, compared to what he might have done. -- Samuel Johnson =
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= Unless your heart, your soul, and your whole being are behind every =
= decision you make, the words from your mouth will be empty, and each=
= action will be meaningless. Truth and confidence are the roots of =
= happiness. --Kathleen Pedersen =
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= The greatest mistake you can make is to be continually fearing you =
= will make one. -- Elbert Hubbard =
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= Behold the turtle: He only makes progress when he sticks his neck =
= out. -- James Bryant Conant =
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= A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are for. Sail =
= out to sea and do new things. -- Admiral Grace Hopper =
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= The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. =
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= While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, another is =
= busy making mistakes and becoming superior. -- Henry C. Link =
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= Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor =
= do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is =
= no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a =
= daring adventure, or nothing. -- Helen Keller =
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= When you reach the end of your rope -- let go! -- Unknown =
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= Every man dies; not every man lives. =
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= There is more to life than increasing its speed. - Mahatma Gandhi =
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Miscellaneous:
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= No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock I'm clinging. =
= Since love is lord of Heaven and earth, how can I keep from =
= singing. -- Quaker Hymn =
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= Under the heavens we journey far, on roads of life we're the =
= wanderers, So let love rise, So let love depart, Let hope have a =
= place in the lover's heart. -- Enya =
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= I reject you, but I can't follow through. I'd forget you, but you'd =
= end up tapping on my back door. Somehow I lost myself in a tunnel =
= long and black. Somewhere, at the end, I pretend there's a way of =
= turning back. -- Natalie Imbruglia - One More Addiction =
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= There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire.=
= The other is to gain it. -- George Bernard Shaw =
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= The greatest consolation in life is to say what one thinks.-Voltaire=
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= To be nobody-but-myself -- in a world that is doing its best, night =
= and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest =
= battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." =
= -- E. E. Cummings =
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= What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in =
= faculties; In form and moving how express and admirable, In action =
= like an angel, in apprehension like a god: The beauty of the world, =
= the paragon of animals! -- William Shakespeare & Hamlet =
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= In questions of science the authority of a thousand is not worth =
= the humble reasoning of a single individual. -- Galileo Galilei =
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= The highest compliment one can be paid by another human being is to =
= be told: 'Because of what you are, you are essential to my =
= happiness.' -- Nathaniel Branden =
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= Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's =
= character, give him power. -- Abraham Lincoln =
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= To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it =
= with. -- Mark Twain =
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= It is impossible for an optimist to be pleasantly surprised. =
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= The optimist thinks that this is the best of all possible worlds and=
= the pessimist knows it. -- J. Robert Oppenheimer =
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= History is a set of lies agreed upon. -- Napoleon Bonaparte =
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= It is better to deserve honours and not have them than to have them =
= and not to deserve them. -- Mark Twain =
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= A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, =
= education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man =
= would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear =
= of punishment and hope of reward after death. -- Albert Einstein =
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= Most people would rather die than think; in fact, they do so. =
= -- Bertrand Russell =
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= Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth, more than ruin,=
= more even than death....Thought is subversive and revolutionary, =
= destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, =
= established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into =
= the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and =
= free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man. =
= -- Bertrand Russell =
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= I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed =
= us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their =
= use. -- Galileo Galilei =
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= The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -=
= loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves. =
= -- Victor Hugo =
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= Efficiency is intelligent laziness. -- David Dunham =
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= It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought=
= without accepting it. -- Aristotle =
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= I don't wish to be everything to everyone, but I would like to be =
= something to someone. -- Javan =
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= Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be =
= well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is =
= a plant of slow grow, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of =
= adversity before it is entitled to the appellation. =
= -- George Washington =
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Signore Gaspare replied: 'And what do you say about the game of chess?'
'That is certainly a refined and ingenious recreation,' said Federico,
'but it seems to me to possess one defect; namely, that it is possible
for it to demand too much knowledge, so that anyone who wishes to
become an outstanding player must, I think, give to it as much time and
study as he would to learning some noble science or performing well
something or other of importance; and yet for all his pains when all is
said and done all he knows is a game. Therefore as far as chess is
concerned we reach what is a very rare conclusion: that mediocrity is
more to be praised than excellence.'
Baldesar Castiglione, Etiquette for Renaissance Gentlemen, 1528 A.D.
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= Why should my liberty be restricted by another man's conscience? =
= -- I Corinthians, 10:29 =
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= There was never a genius without a tincture of insanity. --Aristotle=
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= We are an impossibility in an impossible universe. -- Ray Bradbury =
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= The problem with my pessimism is that I'm right way too much. --TAA =
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= Trust is like virginity. You lose it once and that's it. =
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= Women's intuition is the result of millions of years of not =
= thinking. -- Rupert Hughes =
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= Science is a differential equation. Religion is a boundry condition.=
= -- Alan Turing =
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= Love isn't something we 'fall' into, it's an experience which we =
= 'grow' in. -- Leo Buscaglia =
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= An open mind is all very well in its way, but it ought not to be so =
= open that there is no keeping anything in or out of it. It should be=
= capable of shutting its doors sometimes, or may be found a little =
= draughty. --Samuel Butler =
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= Be careful that mindless cliches about elitism and the cult of =
= personality are not back to front ways of attacking excellence. =
= --Oxford Professor J. Jones =
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= Virtue is not always amiable. -- John Adams =
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= It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former =
= lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the=
= depth, where few are willing to search for it. -- Goethe =
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Life, I challenge you to try me,
Doom me to unending pain;
Stay my hand, becloud my vision,
Break my heart and then -- again.
Shatter every dream I've cherished,
Fill my heart with ruthless fear;
Follow every smile that cheers me
With a bitter, blinding tear.
Thus I dare you; you can try me,
Seek to make me cringe and moan,
Still my unbound soul defies you,
I'll withstand you -- and alone!
-- Jean Nette, "Challenge"
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