Liberty Quotes - Daily Email History

"Political ideas that have dominated the public mind for decades cannot be refuted through rational arguments. They must run their course in life and cannot collapse otherwise than in great catastrophe..."

~ Ludwig von Mises  

"The authoritarian sets up some book,
or man, or tradition to establish the truth.
The freethinker sets up reason and
private judgment to discover the truth...
It takes the highest courage to utter unpopular truths."

~ Herbert Spencer  

"If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national
existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and
Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side,
and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other."

~ Ulysses S. Grant  

"My kind of loyalty was to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death."

~ Mark Twain  

"Men in authority will always think that
criticism of their policies is dangerous.
They will always equate their policies
with patriotism, and find criticism subversive."

~ Henry Steele Commager  

"Equal laws protecting equal rights -- the best guarantee of loyalty and love of country."

~ James Madison  

"Of course, the proponents of political tyranny are usually well-motivated. Those who enacted the gun-registration law in California point to criminals who have used semiautomatic weapons to commit horrible, murderous acts. But the illusion -- the pipe dream -- is that bad acts can be prevented by the deprivation of liberty. They cannot be! Life is always insecure. The only choice is between liberty and insecurity, on the one hand, and insecurity and enslavement on the other. The true patriot scrutinizes the actions of his own government with unceasing vigilance. And when his government violates the morality and rightness associated with principles of individual freedom and private property, he immediately rises in opposition to his government. This is why the gun owners of California might ultimately go down in history as among the greatest and most courageous patriots of our time."

~ Jacob G. Hornberger  

"The republic was not established by cowards,
and cowards will not preserve it."

~ Elmer Davis  

"I am commonly opposed to those who modestly assume the rank of champions of liberty, and make a very patriotic noise about the people. It is the stale artifice which has duped the world a thousand times, and yet, though detected, it is still successful. I love liberty as well as anybody. I am proud of it, as the true title of our people to distinction above others; but ... I would guard it by making the laws strong enough to protect it."

~ Fisher Ames  

"To oppose corruption in government
is the highest obligation of patriotism."

~ G. Edward Griffin  

"The inherent right in the people
to reform their government,
I do not deny;
and they have another right,
and that is to resist unconstitutional laws
without overturning the government."

~ Daniel Webster  

"Why is patriotism thought to be blind loyalty to the government and the politicians who run it, rather than loyalty to the principles of liberty and support for the people? Real patriotism is a willingness to challenge the government when it’s wrong."

~ Dr. Ron Paul  

"A patriot must always be ready to defend
his country against his government."

~ Edward Abbey