One of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the great struggle for independence."
-- American historian Charles A. Beard (1874-1948)

Man is not a slave of society, but a sovereign being."
-- Edwin A. Locke

"No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave."
-- Calvin Coolidge

"Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."
-- Ayn Rand (1905-1982)



Just some things to ponder.

Jerry

“All we have of freedom - all we use or know - This our fathers bought for us, long and long ago”

"Rudyard Kipling"

Always pondering Jerry.
Colin.

Excellent quote!  Unfortunately our kids are not being taught these things in school anymore.  That is something to think on for quite a while to get all that is in there.

Jerry

A few of my faves:

The tree of liberty only grows when watered by the blood of tyrants.

--Bertrand Barère de Vieuzac


It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.

--John Philpot Curran


A viler evil than to murder a man, is to sell him suicide as an act of virtue. A viler evil than to throw a man into a sacrificial furnace, is to demand that he leap in, of his own will, and that he build the furnace, besides.

--Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged


Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.

--Woody Guthrie


The road to tyranny, we must never forget, is the destruction of the truth.

--William Jefferson Clinton


We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized...I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing, and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.

--Gaius Petronius (~27-66 A.D.)


A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, shall not take from the mouth of labour the bread it has earned.

--Thomas Jefferson


Some of the most elaborate solutions do nothing to improve productivity.

--Unknown


Nothing in the world can take
The place of Persistence.
Talent will not; Nothing is more
Common than unsuccessful
Men with talent; Genius will not;
Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education alone will not;
The world is full
of educated derelicts.
Persistence and Determination
Alone are omnipotent.

--Calvin Coolidge


If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm..

--Vince Lombardi


It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into.

--Jonathan Swift


Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

--Benjamin Franklin

You're all on a roll...  Please don't stop!!!  This is great!!!

Take care and keep on truckin,

V/R, Batch

"If a nation expects to be ignorant -- and free -- in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson

"A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one."
-- Alexander Hamilton

"It has been said that all Government is an evil. It would be more proper to say that the necessity of any Government is a misfortune. This necessity however exists; and the problem to be solved is, not what form of Government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect."
-- James Madison

"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing."
-- Thomas Paine

"The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse."
-- James Madison,1829  

"A fondness for power is implanted, in most men, and it is natural to abuse it, when acquired."
-- Alexander Hamilton

"The world ain't going to be saved by nobody's scheme. It's fellows with schemes that got us into this mess. Plans can get you into things, but you got to work your way out."
-- Will Rogers

thanks for the other quotations!  Keep them coming

Jerry

But the sad thing is that we've allowed the "two" parties to work together to take our freedoms.  They've allowed the destruction of our economy in order to gain more power.  They've stood witness and been party to the murder of the middle-class.  They've caused divisiveness in our once unified nation.  They've spread suspicion amongst the citizens.  They've shown contempt for the laws they've imposed upon us.  They have no idea what it's like to have to go earn a paycheck in order just to get by, while the government keeps taking more and more of it, making it impossible to actually get ahead.  But yet ever two years people go and vote for the same people that have been described above.  It's pointless to complain about it while most voters have been willing accomplices in the destruction of our nation.  Just remember the "lesser of two evils" is still pretty fucking evil.

"Holy shit. Look who's back. Nice to see you again."

--Brew

Brew wrote on Jun 16^th, 2009 at 5:11pm:

"Holy shit. Look who's back. Nice to see you again." --Brew

You too.  You've got a little pudding on your chin. ;)

Deep breaths Thomas, deep breaths!  ;)

It was sure good to see you again, you get cuter everytime I see you.

I'm glad I'm not the only person that thinks that. lol

Glad to see you Bro!  I've missed you.

Jerry

Missed you too man.  

A Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in 1787 to consider changes in the new country’s government.  After 15 weeks, it produced what we know today as the Constitution of the United States of America.  On September 17, after the last meeting, an old woman approached Benjamin Franklin.  “Well doctor,” she asked, “what have we got—a republic or a monarchy?”  Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it!”

Franklin’s challenge was eternal—for all democracies, for all time.  Can you keep your democracy?  Can you find the right balance?  When to demonstrate?  When to discuss?

I blame the full-time politicians for snookering the the public.  I also blame to public education system for doing away with critical thinking.  I also blame the public voter for allowing the media, corrupt politicians, and deep-pocketed lobbyists to tell him/her what his/her opinion is on an "issue".  Just remember when you let someone else decide what is right for you, you are just as guilty as they are for the result.

"I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."--John F. Kennedy

"People will pay more to be entertained than educated. --Johnny Carson

"I have learned the difference between a cactus and a caucus. On a cactus, the pricks are on the outside." --Morris Udall

Charlie

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.


--Abraham Lincoln, supposedly, but actually by William J. H. Boetcker, a Presbyterian minister, in 1942

Still, GREAT words of wisdom, even if Abie Baby didn't say them!

The modern education system as set up by Dewey was not for the purpose of creating educated people.  It's purpose was to create a class that was educated just enough to handle a job.  Critical thinking that was prevalent among the leadership of this country prior to the 1930's has been disapearing since then.  I don't think I am THAT old, but when I look at what passes for History and Civics books that our kids are using in High School they are not learning the basics that we learned in lower elementary.  I learned more of the Constitution in fifth grade and had to pass a more rigorous test to go on to the sixth grade than eight graders are required by the State to pass in order to go on to High School now.

The virtue of independence refers to one's acceptance of the responsibility of using one's own judgment for the purpose of sustaining one's own life. .... Anyone who defaults on this responsibility can only live as a parasite on the thinking and effort of other people."
-- Edwin A. Locke

"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world."
-- U.S. Senator Daniel Webster

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"It is a misfortune incident to republican government, though in a less degree than to other governments, that those who administer it, may forget their obligations to their constituents, and prove unfaithful to their important trust."
-- James Madison

   I think Madison was rather presient in this quote!  We need more statesmen and less politicians!

Just some stuff to think on.  I am proud of my country, but I fear the direction it is going.

Jerry

"The new political gospel: public office is private graft."
--Mark Twain--

"If you want it bad, you'll get it bad".
--Wendell Marineaux"--

Wendell is an old Architect I use to work with.  He had a million of 'em.

Hey Thomas.

Steve G

Charlie wrote on Jun 16^th, 2009 at 6:26pm:

"I have learned the difference between a cactus and a caucus. On a cactus, the pricks are on the outside." --Morris Udall

I heard a slightly altered version. It was the difference between a BMW and a porcupine.

;D

Callico wrote on Jun 16^th, 2009 at 6:39pm:

The modern education system as set up by Dewey was not for the purpose of creating educated people.  It's purpose was to create a class that was educated just enough to handle a job.  Critical thinking that was prevalent among the leadership of this country prior to the 1930's has been disapearing since then.  I don't think I am THAT old, but when I look at what passes for History and Civics books that our kids are using in High School they are not learning the basics that we learned in lower elementary.  I learned more of the Constitution in fifth grade and had to pass a more rigorous test to go on to the sixth grade than eight graders are required by the State to pass in order to go on to High School now.

I agree 100%

Charlie

"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal well meaning but without understanding.” - Louis D. Brandeis