Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2006-07-27 Jul 27, 2006It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?~ James MadisonThe laws of man may bind him in chains or may put him to death, but they never can make him wise, virtuous, or happy.~ John Quincy AdamsOne has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws, but conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.~ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jul 26, 2006After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp and fashioned him at will, the supreme power then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.~ Alexis de TocquevilleAmerica is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards. On the road to tyranny, we've gone so far that polite political action is about as useless as a miniskirt in a convent.~ Claire WolfeGovernment is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.~ George Washington Jul 25, 2006Nearly every day on the television set the hero cop breaks into the bad guy’s house and beats a confession out of him and we cheer on the cop. Propaganda smears our clear vision. It causes us to accept the diminishment of our constitutional protections as something to be lauded – after all, the cop was protecting us.~ Gerry SpenceWe have never stopped sin by passing laws; and in the same way, we are not going to take a great moral ideal and achieve it merely by law.~ Dwight D. EisenhowerA patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.~ Edward Abbey Jul 24, 2006There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers -- and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system.~ Ayn RandCorruptissima re publica plurimae leges. (The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.)~ Cornelius TacitusA guilty man is punished as an example for the mob; an innocent man convicted is the business of every honest citizen.~ Jean de la Bruyere Jul 21, 2006The plea of necessity, that eternal argument of all conspirators.~ William Henry HarrisonFor you see, the world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.~ Benjamin DisraeliAbuse of power isn't limited to bad guys in other nations. It happens in our own country if we’re not vigilant.~ Clint Eastwood Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print