Quotations on Democracy, Morality and Society
I've heard that there's nothing new under the sun and that history repeats itself. It amazes, and sometimes disturbs me that some of the things I see going on in our country and the world have happened before. Some great thinkers, statesmen and writers have commented on democracy and morality, and I've gathered a few of my favorites here. I tried to arrange them along with 2 Amendments to the Constitution. They seem, amendments and quotations, to support each other very nicely.
These are important lessons for the people of today. We need to know what has happened in the past. As Edmund Burke said: "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." Many people in many societies have tried many systems of government and economics. We need to know which ones have worked, and which have not and why. Repeating failed experiments is a waste of time and resources.
5th
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
Democracy
and Economics
The
Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to
work and give to those who would not.
Alexander Tytler (1747-1813) Scottish writer, historian & lawyer
A
democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist
until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of
the public treasury.
James Madison
(1751-1836) US President, co-author of the Federalist Papers, co-author of the
US Constitution
I
cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which
granted a right to Congress of expending, on the objects of benevolence, the
money of their constituents."
Margaret Thatcher
(1925- ) Prime Minister of Great Britain
The
problem with Socialism is you eventually run out of other people�s money.
Robert Heinlein
(1907-1988) American writer
TANSTAAFL
� There ain�t no such thing as a free lunch.
Democracy
and Morality
A
government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Ayn Rand
(1905-1982) Russian-American writer
Individual
rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away
the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to
protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on
earth is the individual
A. A.
Bestuzhev-Marlinsky (1797�1837) Russian poet
The
official's heart must stand at attention before his mind.
Kenneth McClellan
(1955- ) American soldier
Democracy
without morality is dictatorship by the majority and slavery of the minority.
A
well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the
right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) Inventory, philosopher, newspaper editor, co-author of the US
Constitution
Democracy
is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!
Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790) Inventory, philosopher, newspaper editor, co-author of the US
Constitution
They
that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve
neither liberty nor safety.
Alastair Farrugia (
- ) British Mathematician
Freedom
is when the people can speak, democracy is when the government listens.
Final Thoughts
Edmund Burke (1729 � 1797) Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher
Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.
In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the
minority.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Cicero - 55 BC
The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.
If you have quotations for you like,
please send them to the Web Editor: Ken McClellan