Tag Archives: Liberty

First Principles: Our Liberty Depends On Our Education, Law and Habits and Is Founded On Morality and Religion

“Our liberty depends on our education, our laws, and habits . . . it is founded on morals and religion, whose authority reigns in the heart, and on the influence all these produce on public opinion before that opinion governs … Continue reading

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First Principles: Whoever Would Overthrow A Nation’s Liberty Must Begin By Subduing Free Speech

“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” –  Benjamin Franklin    

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First Principles: Happy Fourth of July!

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – Thomas Jefferson, in The Declaration of … Continue reading

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First Principles: National and Individual Happiness Comes From Love of Liberty; Respect For Laws; Habits of Industry; and Practice of Moral and Religious Obligations

“Your love of liberty — your respect for the laws — your habits of industry — and your practice of the moral and religious obligations, are the strongest claims to national and individual happiness.” – George Washington (1789)    

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First Principles: Without Liberty, Law Becomes Oppression

“Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness.” – James Wilson (1790)      

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First Principles: Liberty Consists In Freedom To Do All Desired That Injures No One Without Limit Except To Assure This Right To Everyone Else

“Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of … Continue reading

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First Principles: It Is Wiser To Govern Through Sound Principles Than Events

“Every friend to the liberty of his country is bound to reflect, and step forward to prevent the dreadful consequences which shall result from a government of events.” – Henry Knox    

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First Principles: Americans Combine Christianity and Liberty So Intimately That It Is Impossible to Conceive One Without the Other

“The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.” – Alexis de Tocqueville    

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First Principles: Our Liberties Come Not From Some Parchment But From God

“Our liberties do not come from charters; for these are only the declaration of pre-existing rights. They do not depend on parchments or seals; but come from the King of Kings and the Lord of all the earth.” – John … Continue reading

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First Principles: Honor, Justice and Humanity Makes It Our Duty To Pass Liberty On To Our Children’s Children

“Honor, justice, and humanity, call upon us to hold, and to transmit to our posterity, that liberty which we received from our ancestors. It is not our duty to leave wealth to our children, but it is our duty to … Continue reading

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