Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2007-07-25 Jul 25, 2007The government of the absolute majority is but the government of the strongest interests; and when not effectively checked, is the most tyrannical and oppressive that can be devised... [To read the Constitution is to realize that] no free system was ever farther removed from the principle that the absolute majority, without check or limitation, ought to govern.~ John C. CalhounNo one can read our Constitution without concluding that the people who wrote it wanted their government severely limited; the words 'no' and 'not' employed in restraint of government power occur 24 times in the first seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more times in the Bill of Rights.~ Rev. Edmund A. OpitzToo many Americans have twisted the sensible right to pursue happiness into the delusion that we are entitled to a guarantee of happiness. If we don't get exactly what we want, we assume someone must be violating our rights. We're no longer willing to write off some of life's disappointments to simple bad luck.~ Susan Jacoby Jul 24, 2007Can the real Constitution be restored? Probably not. Too many Americans depend on government money under programs the Constitution doesn't authorize, and money talks with an eloquence Shakespeare could only envy. Ignorant people don't understand The Federalist Papers, but they understand government checks with their names on them.~ Joseph SobranIt is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.~ Justice Robert H. JacksonThere is as much chance of repealing the 18th Amendment as there is for a humming-bird to fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail.~ Morris Sheppard Jul 23, 2007Our constitutions purport to be established by 'the people,' and, in theory, 'all the people' consent to such government as the constitutions authorize. But this consent of 'the people' exists only in theory. It has no existence in fact. Government is in reality established by the few; and these few assume the consent of all the rest, without any such consent being actually given.~ Lysander SpoonerLiberty cannot be caged into a charter or handed on ready-made to the next generation. Each generation must recreate liberty for its own times. Whether or not we establish freedom rests with ourselves.~ Florence Ellinwood AllenLiberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no Constitution, no court, can even do much to help it.~ Judge Learned Hand Jul 20, 2007Constitutional rights may not be infringed simply because the majority of the people choose that they be.~ Supreme Court of the United StatesIn questions of power, then, let no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.~ Thomas JeffersonThat frequent recurrence to fundamental principles, and a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, industry and frugality, are absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty, and keep government free. The people ought, therefore, to pay particular attention to these points, in the choice of officers and representatives, and have a right to exact a due and constant regard to them, from their legislators and magistrates, in the making and executing such laws as are necessary for the good government of the State.~ Vermont Declaration of Rights Jul 19, 2007The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.~ James MadisonFrom the utopian viewpoint, the United States constitution is a singularly hard-bitten and cautious document, for it breathes the spirit of skepticism about human altruism and incorporates a complex system of checks, balances and restrictions, so that everybody is holding the reins on everybody else.~ Chad WalshOur inalienable rights cannot shield us from our own follies.~ Eric Schaub Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print