"There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it."
Lord Acton
"Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice."
Thomas Paine
"The point of complaining is not necessarily that it's going to change things. It's more kind of an existential act that is essential to democracy."
Matthew Bakkom
"Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government."
James Madison
"The road to truth is long, and lined the entire way with annoying bastards."
Alexander Jablokov
"My mechanic told me, 'I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.'"
Steven Wright
"Most people prefer to believe their leaders are just and fair even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which they live is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of a corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one's self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all."
Michael Rivero
"This Act (the Federal Reserve Act, Dec. 23rd 1913) establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President (Woodrow Wilson) signs the Bill, the invisible government of the Monetary Power will be legalised... The worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking and currency Bill."
Charles A. Lindbergh
"America, true patriots recognize, is a nation and a system of laws and institutions designed to ensure individual liberty. The UN - a few charitable enterprises notwithstanding - is an expense-account boondoggle largely designed to fill the wallets of kleptocrats and assuage the egos of runner-up nations. And yet, for reasons that remain mysterious to me, many [Leftists] seem to think that the UN is somehow a democratic institution because its members vote. Never mind that many of these votes are cast by people who don't represent their constituents in any democratic sense. The same people who despise the federal and republican aspects of the United States - states' rights, the electoral college, indirect elections, etc. - will swoon over the moral authority of UN 'votes' criticizing the United States. This is like having a gang of criminals 'vote' on which old lady they're going rob and kill and then, looking at the corpse, say, 'Well, it was a democratic decision'."
Jonah Goldberg
"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical."
Thomas Jefferson
"Some people say that employers have a social responsibility to commit themselves to providing more assured employment. But would this social responsibility extend to paying workers as much as they would get without that commitment? And, if it did, would investors have a social responsibility to provide as much capital and on the same terms as they would without the employment commitment? And would consumers have a social responsibility to buy as much product if the commitment entailed higher prices? And who would have a social responsibility to the people who did not get employed in the first place because it would have entailed too large a commitment?"
Herbert Stein
American Enterprise Institute
"Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty - and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies."
H. L. Mencken