Tag Archives: First Principles

First Principles: If Freedom of Speech Is Taken Away, Then Dumb and Silent We May Be Led, Like Sheep To the Slaughter

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” – George Washington

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First Principles: Laws, To Be Just, Must Give A Reciprocation of Right;…Without This, They Are Mere Arbitrary Rules of Conduct, Founded In Force

“We lay it down as a fundamental, that laws, to be just, must give a reciprocation of right; that, without this, they are mere arbitrary rules of conduct, founded in force, and not in conscience.” – Thomas Jefferson (1782)

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First Principles: While We Are Contending For Our Own Liberty, We Should Be Very Cautious Not To Violate the Rights of Conscience In Others, Ever Considering That God Alone Is the Judge of the Hearts of Men, and To Him

“While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not to violate the rights of conscience in others, ever considering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to him.” – George … Continue reading

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First Principles: Far From Being Rivals or Enemies, Religion and Law Are Twin Sisters, Friends, and Mutual Assistants

“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 … Continue reading

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First Principles: In the Supposed State of Nature, All Men Are Equally Bound By the Laws of Nature, Or To Speak More Properly, the Laws of the Creator

“In the supposed state of nature, all men are equally bound by the laws of nature, or to speak more properly, the laws of the Creator.” – Samuel Adams

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First Principles: Live Among Men As If God Beheld You; Speak With God As If Men Were Listening

“Live among men as if God beheld you; speak with God as if men were listening.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC-AD 65)

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First Principles: I Ask, Sir, What Is the Militia? It Is the Whole People. To Disarm the People Is the Best and Most Effectual Way To Enslave Them.

“I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.” – George Mason, Speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1788

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First Principles: It Will Be of Little Avail To the People That the Laws Are Made By Men of Their Own Choice, If the Laws Are So Voluminous That They Cannot Be Read, Or So Incoherent That They Cannot Be Understood

“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 … Continue reading

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First Principles: Dependence Begets Subservience and Venality, Suffocates the Germ of Virtue, and Prepares Fit Tools for the Designs of Ambition

“Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.” – Thomas Jefferson (1781)

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First Principles: There Is No Art Which One Government Sooner Learns of Another Than That of Draining Money From the Pockets of the People

“There is no art which one government sooner learns of another than that of draining money from the pockets of the people.” – Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776.

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