Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [561-580] of 689 Tyranny quotesTyranny QuotesTyranny Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Surely a large part of the zealous repression of radical protest in America has its roots in the fact that millions of men who are apparently “insiders” know how vulnerable the system is because they know how ambiguous their own attachments to it are. The slightest challenge exposes the fragile foundations of legitimacy of the state.~ John Scharr Standing up to a tyrant has always been illegal and dangerous. There is no guarantee but one -- to not live like a slave, nor to die like one.~ Eric Schaub Can we truly expect those who aim to exploit us to be trusted to educate us?~ Eric Schaub No, there is a limit to the tyrant's power! When the oppressed man finds no justice, When the burden grows unbearable, he appeals With fearless heart to Heaven, And thence brings down his everlasting rights, Which there abide, inalienably his, And indestructible as stars themselves. The primal state of nature reappears, Wherein man confronts his fellow man; And if all other means shall fail his need, One last resort remains—his own good sword. The dearest of our goods we may defend From violence. We stand before our country, We stand before our wives, before our children!~ Friedrich Schiller [When a victimless criminal] is treated as an enemy of society, he almost necessarily becomes one. Forced into criminal acts, immersed in underworld-related supply networks, and ever-conscious of the need to evade the police, his outlooks as well as behavior become more and more anti-social.~ Edwin M. Schur I have always held firmly to the thought that each one of us can do a little to bring some portion of misery to an end.~ Albert Schweitzer CRIMINAL: A person with predatory instincts who has not sufficient capital to form a corporation.~ Howard Scott It is unclear how disarming law-abiding citizens would better protect them from the dangers and threats posed by those who would flout the law. It is at just such times that the constitutional right to self-defense is most precious and must be protected from government overreach.~ Rick Scott Since March 9, 1933, the United States has been in a state of declared national emergency....Under the powers delegated by these statutes, the President may: seize property; organize and control the means of production; seize commodities; assign military forces abroad; institute martial law; seize and control all transportation and communication; regulate the operation of private enterprise; restrict travel; and, in a plethora of particular ways, control the lives of all American citizens. ... A majority of the people of the United States have lived all of their lives under emergency rule. For 40 years, freedoms and governmental procedures guaranteed by the Constitution have, in varying degrees, been abridged by laws brought into force by states of national emergency....from, at least, the Civil War in important ways shaped the present phenomenon of a permanent state of national emergency.~ Senate Report, 93rd Congress Laws do not persuade just because they threaten.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Democracy is more cruel than wars or tyrants.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Unjust rule never abides continually.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Because we fear the responsibility for our actions, we have allowed ourselves to develop the mentality of slaves. Contrary to the stirring sentiments of the Declaration of Independence, we now pledge "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" not to one another for our mutual protection, but to the state, whose actions continue to exploit, despoil, and destroy us.~ Butler D. Shaffer The idea of creating systems designed to threaten, coerce, and kill, and to imbue such agencies with principled legitimacy, and not expect them to lead to wars, genocides, and other tyrannical practices, expresses an innocence we can no longer afford to indulge.~ Butler D. Shaffer The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power.~ William Shakespeare With devotion's visage and pious action we do sugar o'er the devil himself.~ William Shakespeare Give them a corrupt House of Lords, give them a venal House of Commons, give they a tyrannical Prince, give them a truckling court, and let me have but an unfettered press. I will defy them to encroach a hair’s breadth upon the liberties of England.~ Richard Brinsley Sheridan There is no 'slippery slope' toward loss of liberty, only a long staircase where each step down must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders.~ Alan K. Simpson The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, would ... assume an authority which could safely be trusted, not only to no single person, but to no council or senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.~ Adam Smith It is the highest impertinence and presumption, therefore, in kings and ministers, to pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to restrain their expence, either by sumptuary laws, or by prohibiting the importation of foreign luxuries. They are themselves always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society. Let them look well after their own expence, and they may safely trust private people with theirs. If their own extravagance does not ruin the state, that of their subjects never will.~ Adam Smith Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print