“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

— James Madison

 

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”

—Benjamin Franklin

 

“Humans being born with different capacities, if they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”

— Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

 

“Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

 

“People are tired of wasteful government programs and welfare chiselers, and they’re angry about the constant spiral of taxes and government regulations, arrogant bureaucrats, and public officials who think all of mankind’s problems can be solved by throwing the taxpayers’ dollars at them.”

— Ronald Reagan