Quotes

Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other. The divine law, as discovered by reason and the moral sense, forms an essential part of both.
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice James Wilson (Lectures, 1790-1791)

No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders.
- Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, November 4, 1775

In the next place, the state governments are, by the very theory of the constitution, essential constituent parts of the general government. They can exist without the latter, but the latter cannot exist without them.
- Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833

Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and capacity, if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence.
- Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833

Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country.
- Noah Webster, On the Education of Youth in America, 1788

“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
-Winston Churchill

“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.”
- Pericles (430 B.C.)

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence. It is force, and like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
- George Washington

“Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”
- William Pitt