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Here's a sampling of historical political thought from Bartlett’s Quotations & other sources. Most of these reflect my own libertarian bent. Founding Fathers: “Liberty
cannot be preserved without general knowledge among people.” “They that can give
up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither
liberty nor safety.” “If we can prevent the
government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretence
of taking care of them, they must become happy.” “I would rather be exposed
to the inconveniencies attending too much liberty than those attending
too small a degree of it.” “The basis of our governments
being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to
keep that right; and were it left
to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers,
or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to
prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those
papers and be capable of reading them.” “Peace with all nations,
and the right which that gives us with respect to all nations, are
our object.” “In questions of power,
then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down
from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” “If a nation expects
to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what
never was and never will be. The functionaries of every
government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property
of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the
people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information.
Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.” On patriotism: “‘My country, right or wrong,’ is a thing that no
patriot would think of saying except in a desperate case. It is like
saying, ‘My mother, drunk or sober.’” “The difference between
patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country
for what it does, and the nationalist
is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates
a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance
that leads to war.” “The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve
and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more
than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when
he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is
a good citizen driven to despair.” “What do we mean by
patriotism in the context of our times? I venture to suggest that what
we mean is a sense of national responsibility
... a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but
the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” “Nationalism is our
form of incest, is our idolatry, is our insanity. 'Patriotism' is its
cult. It should hardly be necessary to say, that
by 'patriotism' I mean that attitude which puts the own nation above
humanity, above the principles of truth and justice; not the loving interest
in one's own nation, which is the concern with the nation's spiritual
as much as with its material welfare-never with its power over other
nations. Just as love for one individual which excludes the love for
others is not love, love for one's country which is not part of one's
love for humanity is not love, but idolatrous worship.” “Nationalism is militant
hatred. It is not love of our countrymen: that, which denotes good
citizenship, philanthropy, practical religion,
should go by the name of patriotism. Nationalism is passionate xenophobia.
It is fanatical, as all forms of idol- worship are bound to be. And fanaticism--l'infame
denounced by Voltaire--obliterates or reverses the distinction between
good and evil. Patriotism, the desire to work for the common weal, can
be, must be, reasonable: 'My country, may she be right!' Nationalism
spurns reason: 'Right or wrong, my country.'” “Patriotism is proud
of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also
acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other
countries, with their own specific virtues. The pride of nationalism,
however, trumpets its country's virtues and denies its deficiencies,
while it is contemptuous toward the virtues of other countries. It wants
to be, and proclaims itself to be, 'the greatest,' but greatness is not
required of a country; only goodness is.” “Patriotism is a lively
sense of collective responsibility. Nationalism is a silly cock crowing
on its own dunghill and calling for larger spurs
and brighter beaks. I fear that nationalism is one of England's many
spurious gifts to the world.” “Patriotism is when
love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people
other than your own comes first.” “Moral certainty is
always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man,
the surer he is that he knows precisely what
is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been
the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men
who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized
man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others.
His culture is based on 'I am not too sure.'” "Thoughtful
Americans understand that the highest patriotism is not a blind acceptance
of official policy, but a love of one’s
country deep enough to call her to a higher standard." Theodore Roosevelt: “To announce that there
must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the
President, right or wrong, is not only
unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” “The things that will
destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any- price, safety-first
instead of duty-first, the love of
soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.” “No people is wholly
civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and
stealing a purse.” “There is something
to be said for government by a great aristocracy which has furnished
leaders to the nation in peace and war for generations;
even a Democrat like myself must admit this. But there is absolutely
nothing to be said for government by a plutocracy, for government by
men very powerful in certain lines and gifted with the 'money touch,'
but with ideals which in their essence are merely those of so many glorified
pawnbrokers.” “The government is us;
we are the government, you and I.” “The old parties are
husks, with no real soul within either, divided on artificial lines,
boss-ridden and privilege-controlled, each a jumble
of incongruous elements, and neither daring to speak out wisely and fearlessly
on what should be said on the vital issues of the day.” On propaganda: “Why of course the people
don't want war ... But after all it is the leaders of the country who
determine the policy, and it is always
a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy,
or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship
...Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding
of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they
are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism
and exposing the country to danger.” “The art of leadership
... consists in consolidating the attention of the people against a
single adversary and taking care that nothing
will split up that attention.... The leader of genius must have the ability
to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category.” “The broad masses of
a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any
other force.” “The great mass of people
... will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one.” “An evil exists that
threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation. We must
take steps to ensure our domestic security and
protect our homeland.” Modern-day quotes: “If this were a dictatorship, it would be a heck of a lot easier,
just so long as I’m the dictator.” “Our enemies are innovative
and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new
ways to harm our country and our people,
and neither do we.” "I
don't give a goddamn. I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief.
Do it my way. Stop throwing
the Constitution in my face. It's just a goddamned piece of paper." |
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