Famous Benjamin Franklin Quote 

"When the people find they can vote themselves money,
that will herald the end of the republic."

by:
Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) US Founding Father
Source:
Attributed.
Categories:
 
Bookmark and Share

Reader comments about this quote:
A wise man, with insight into the minds & hearts of men... then and now.
 -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US		 
Our representatives vote themselves money...our money. We are no longer a republic, but a socialist tyranny. Not a tyranny of one person, but of more than 535 in Washington.
 -- Joel, Rochester, MI		 
--and of freedom itself, in any temporal context.
 -- Joanna Parker, Ocean Shores, WA		 
 -- John Donich, Los Angeles 
It's Rome...all over again. Don't we learn?
 -- Jose' A. Morales, New Jersey		 
Truer words have never been said.
 -- Greg Walton, Eustis, FL		 
How very, very true - and how tragic!
 -- John-Douglas, Nassau		 
I hope you Americans realize you are witnessing the demise of your Republic even as you live and breath, (and pay taxes)under the Patriot Act and its pernicious additives.
 -- Jodopo, Canada		 
True. Here, from the army's own website, is one of their plans for us... http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r210_35.pdf
 -- Anonymous		 
 -- Anonymous 
 -- Tom Ross, Boulder, CO 
 -- Anonymous 
If Ben Franklin lived in 2008, he would probably hear a funeral dirge playing in his mind because we are whom he has described.
 -- Joseph Hudson, Chambersburg, PA		 
Time to take our Republic back. We've been patient long enough. We've attempted to reason and that isn't working. Contact your representatives and congressmen. Vote, or with hold your vote, as the situation warrants. We must learn from the history and legacy of our founding fathers.
 -- Nancy, Marion, OH		 
We are all in agreement.........and that is unfortunate. Why more Americans cannot see what has been happening since the 1960's is baffling. Little by little (incrementalism) is what I have been preaching for years during my self-financed Saturday morning radio program (wezs.com The Advocates 8:05-Noon Eastern) and within my column in The Weirs Times (weirs.com) page 12 this week. My thanks to Liberty-Tree for a lot of motivational material! Niel Young Laconia, NH bnyoung@metrocast.net
 -- Niel Young, Laconia,NH		 
This quote goes to the heart of Bastiat's book, "The Law." It goes well with another Franklin quote, "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner." Democracy must always be bound by the rule of law in that it may never be used to violate the minority's rights to life, liberty or property. It should never be used as a means to legitimize murder, theft, slavery or fraud.
 -- Bryan Morton, Stuart, FL		 
Thank God the people have not found that yet. There is only about 500 billion of currency in existence. If the people or the government could just print money then the government nor the people would be in debt. While our national debt is about 40% of our GDP many nations are worse, the Japaneese debt is 150% of their GDP. A World Values Survey of 350,000 people rated 55 nations in terms of happiness. The US came in at sixteenth and Denmark as first. The administrator of the survey said, "there is a strong correlation between happiness and democracy". Democracy is simply a form of government or organization of people wherein the most number of people, at any given time, feel that they are in charge of their lives. When the minority is in control this feeling of euphoria for the most number of people ceases and happiness plummets. Thus the least happy nations in the survey were Zimbabwe, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine. Nations with little experience with democracy.
 -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas		 
 -- Mike, Norwalk 
To comment on Waffler's statement, Oh, I think the people have found out that they can vote themselves money. They are called Democrats.
 -- Chris, Durham		 
What are you babbling about, Waffler? Voting for money is all that Congress does!!! That is what so-called democracy has done to the nation -- it has bankrupted us -- according to this quote, the Republic has ended. Again, Waffler, you seem to misunderstand the meaning of the word 'currency.' Currency includes both the specie (i.e. the actual paper notes being used as money), cheques (most of us pay our bills with cheques), and electronic transfers (i.e. credit and debit card charges, wire transfers, etc.). Our bank balances are indeed just bits and bytes with no specie or backing behind it. Waffler, you might just get this -- and when you do I believe you will see that how 'money' is actually issued is completely corrupt. Forget about all those numbers you have quoted. EVERY SINGLE 'DOLLAR' in circulation (whether in specie or cheques or electronic) has been borrowed (that is how it is created in the first place) at interest, AND if we paid every dollar back we would still owe much, much more even though there would be no more money. That is what is called an unpayable debt, and the IRS collects enough for the interest the US government owes for the T-Bills it has issued -- that's all. This year's budget is over 1.5 trillion dollars -- most of which will be borrowed/created thus causing the value of the currency to drop. If this isn't voting for money, I don't know what is. Unchecked democracy leads to unpayable debts and eventually totalitarianism -- the borrower serves the lender.
 -- E Archer, NYC		 
Archer there are different measures of funds like M1, M2 etcetera. But currency is defined as green backs.
 -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas		 
It is a statistical principle that correlation does not equate to causation.
 -- Logan, Memphis, TN		 
For heaven's sake, Waffler, being a devil's advocate for the plain fun of it is a waste of one's energy. Do you have any M1, M2 money in your bank account? NO. Then, does your bank have enough 'dollar bills' in their vaults to cover your bank balance? No -- but they can write you a cheque. Are you paid your pension in cash? No, you are paid with a cheque -- it is still currency -- all of your 'money' is currency and it is not backed by paper bills or even gold/silver -- it is backed by a 'promise to pay.' It is merely ledger entries in a book. 'Printing money' is merely a bank writing a cheque whenever someone borrows it -- it does not exist until someone borrows it. This is not M1 money, but it is issued in the same manner. And when you pay back your mortgage, the 'money' returns to the void from which it came -- it disappears and is found in no one's account again. You can't do that with a hard currency. The hard truth is that what passes for 'money' is in fact not money -- not even pieces of paper printed to look like money -- we are dealing in promises -- 'I owe you another IOU' ad infinitum. The difference between Colonial Script and the currency in use today is that it was issued interest-free. Neither M1 or M2 is issued interest-free -- and the so-called funds are simply created out of thin air -- with interest due. This is a scam of colossal proportions resulting in the theft of our labors and property to be used against us. Is there any question why the colonies revolted?
 -- E Archer, NYC		 
Good Logan but correlation gives the observer a feel and for the serious observer a desire to understand the relationship or causation. I think it is a universal that people feel happier when they are in control rather than being controlled. Democracy appears to give people conrtol. Some like Mike would rather control people with the despot "natural law". The same old devil that enslaved Europe for centuries under the "natural law of Kings". I am with Voltaire on this one "crush the infamous thing".
 -- Waffler, Smith, Arkansas		 
I say the gubmint should send out a million dollar rebate check to everyone. Then we'll all be rich and never have to work again, or better yet, we can all be politicians and vote ourselves a raise.
 -- Ken, Allyn, WA		 
There are three basic forms of govt in the world, 1. Where one rules himself in respect of anothers right to do the same, (a republic). In America a constitutional republic. 2. Where the many rule the few, (a democracy). 3. Where the one rule the many, (a monarchy). In degraded form despotism or tyranny. In America the constitution is supposed to be a law that protects the individual rights of the one from the abuse of the many and to protect the individual rights of the many from the abuse of the one. The only place democracy entered into it was the election of those to ensure the constitution was enforced. This is the true meaning of democratic republic. Unfortunately it wasn't long before the electees realized they could gain favor with the electors by granting them access to the public coffers. The birth of democratic socialism "herald(ing) the end of the republic". Democratic socialism. Where the people are dependent on the govt. for their welfare and the one who gets elected is the one who promises the most and lies the best. Do you ever wonder why our politicians use the term democracy to describe our govt. and very rarely use the term republic? In the pledge of allegiance we pledge "to the republic", not even to the "democratic republic" because democracy was only a minor exercise to elect officials and never considered the main form of govt. Will we ever learn before it's too late?
 -- Dan		 
Waffler, check out the wording on a dollar bill. It says "Federal Reserve note". News Flash!! A note is something that you pay interest on, and guess who collects this interest.
 -- jim k, austin		 
Does anyone know when and where Benjamin Franklin said this? "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." Thanks.
 -- Robert, Albany,NY		 
Yes, natural law, that damned despot... When will gravity ever cease to be such a menace and dictator upon the human race?!?! After billions of years of oppression and attracting coercion, when will we ever break free from natural law?! Your misunderstanding of history and how thought evolved is staggering. Through the Enlightenment, the "divine right of kings" was rejected, and the "sovereignty" of the people was acknowledged as a self evident state of being.
 -- Logan, Memphis, TN		 
Robert, Albany,NY, We haven't found a source yet, but the quote has been popularly attributed to Franklin.
 -- Editor, Liberty Quotes		 
This is addressed to Waffler's defense of democracy. "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." -- John Adams.
"It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority" -- Lord Acton.
In our Costitutional "Republic" The danger of oppression is from the govt. exceeding its limitations of power. They exceeded those limitations decades ago.
 -- Dan		 
Waffler, Waffler, Waffler. You seem to always be floating around in outer space somewhere.
 -- warren, olathe		 
With the $700B "bailout" that has just passed Congress, we've helped seal our own doom. Next year they will want $1.6T to promise to do the same - help us indeed!!!
 -- Anonymous, Lake Orion, MI		 
What is it going to take to return us to our Constitutional foundation?
 -- Patriot, Kingsport,Tennessee		 
 -- Anonymous 
He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god
 -- jwala sharma, jwala sharma indore		 
Franklin's quote, in light of our socialists in Congress voting for this nearly $800 billion spending monstrosity is noteworthy. It should be supported by this from Hamilton: “It 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 to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow.” Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 62, 1788 This is precisely what our elected morons have now done to us by passing this bill and none of them knowing what is truly in it. To them, this is "Monopoly Money", but our coming generations will truly pay for their political gamesmanship. Our generation will pay for it through the loss of our republic by our spiral into socialism. We may have a coming Second American Revolution. This is precisely why our founding fathers let us have the second ammendment.
 -- Steve Gorden, Kernersville, NC		 
That day was 11/04/08
 -- Matthew, Tallahassee		 
Just say, NO! As for Franklin, Brilliant!
 -- David Major, Beaumont TX		 
Where were you people when Bush was sowing the seeds of economic disaster, spending the surplus, growing the largest government in history, spending billions we don't have on war, bypassing the Constitution at every turn, and taking more vacations than any other President in history?
 -- JTM, Rochester, NY		 
Anyone have a better idea?
 -- David England, Santa Fe NM		 
What is the source of this quote? I've been looking and looking for the source.
 -- TheInterest, US		 
the United States today. Bush was not even an average president. BHO is worse. In the last 50 years, Reagan was the only president that was a leader. Why do we elect these people? Ignorance of the basic history of our country.. Look at our educational system. I will bet that 4 out of 10 graduating kids cannot tell you the major countries that fought on either side in WWII. Another 10 years and our school history books will omit George Washington and insert Madonna, leave out George Patton and add Michael Jackson. With the help of liberal teachers, I bet that graduating kids will be able then to tell you about queers and whores.
 -- John, Madison, MS		 
Bookmark and Share
Rate this quote!
How many stars?
0
1
2
3
4
5
 
What do YOU think?
Your name:
Your town:
    CLICK JUST ONCE!

  
Get a Quote-A-Day! Free!
Liberty Quotes sent to your mail box.
Email:
 
This site is supported
by donors like you!

More Quotations

Read the Bills Act Coalition
Quotes & Quotations - Send This Quote to a Friend

© 1998-2008 Liberty-Tree.ca