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Tag Archives: First Principles
First Principles: We Determine To Die Or Be Free
“Nevertheless, to the persecution and tyranny of his cruel ministry we will not tamely submit — appealing to Heaven for the justice of our cause, we determine to die or be free.” – Joseph Warren, American account of the Battle … Continue reading
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Tagged Appeal, Battle of Lexington, Cause, Determination, First Principles, Heaven, Joseph Warren, Justice, Live Free Or Die, Presecution, Submission, Tyranny
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First Principles: It is Our Duty To Resist Wrongful Force Exerted For Bad Purposes
“Has force, exerted for the purposes of malevolance, a right to command? Can it impose an obligation to obey? No. Resistance to such force is a right, and, if resistance can prove effectual, it is a duty also.” – James … Continue reading
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Tagged Comman, Duty, Exertion, First Principles, Force, Impose, James Wilson, Lectures On Law, Malevolence, Obedience, Obligation, Resistance, Right
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First Principles: No Constitution Can Stand Alone Against Boundless Ambition and Corrupted Morals
“No compact among men … can be pronounced everlasting and inviolable, and … no mound of parchment can be so formed as to stand against the sweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the one side, aided by the sapping current … Continue reading
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Tagged Ambition, Compact, Corruption, Everlasting, First Principles, George Washington, Parchment, Vigilance
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First Principles: Facts Are Stubborn Things
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” – John Adams (1770)
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Tagged Evidence, Facts, First Principles, Inclination, John Adams, Passions, Stubborn Things, Wishes
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First Principles: To Be Respected and Trusted, We Must Keep Our Agreements
“States, like individuals, who observe their engagements, are respected and trusted: while the reverse is the fate of those who pursue an opposite conduct.” – Alexander Hamilton (1790)
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Tagged Agreements, Alexander Hamilton, Conduct, Engagements, Fate, First Principles, Keep, Observe, Persons, Respect, States, Trust
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First Principles: We Should Observe Christian Precepts Not Just Christmas
“How many observe Christ’s birth-day! How few, his precepts!” – Benjamin Franklin (1743)
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Tagged Benjamin Franklin, Christmas, First Principles, Observe, Practice, Precepts
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First Principles: There Is No Graver Error Than To Rest Our Nation On Favors From Other Nations
“There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon real favors from Nation to Nation. ‘Tis an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.” – George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796 … Continue reading
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Tagged Calculation, Cure, Discard, Error, Expectation, Experience, Favor, First Principles, Foreign Nations, George Washington, Illusion, Pride
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First Principles: Virtue and Morality Are Necessary For Popular Free Government
“Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free Government.” – George Washington (1796)
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Tagged First Principles, Force, Free Government, George Washington, Mechanism, Morality, Popular Government, Rule, Virtue
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First Principles: Good Government Knows the Goals of Good Governance and Remains True To Those Aims
“A good government implies two things; first, fidelity to the objects of the government; secondly, a knowledge of the means, by which those objects can be best attained.” – Joseph Story (1833)
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Tagged Fidelity, First Principles, Government, Joseph Story, Knowledge, Objects
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First Principles: If Mankind Were Angels, There Would Be No Need For Government
“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” – James Madison
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Tagged Angels, Control, Federalist Papers, First Principles, Governance, Government, James Madison, Mankind, Necessity
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