Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

How can we protect the great legacy of liberty and carefully share it with our children?  

One important way is to recognize that liberty is a gift from God.  We cannot hope to preserve it without his help.  

Here are some thoughts from our Founding Fathers who sacrificed everything to help establish America as a beacon of liberty and hope to the world. 

“Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?  That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?”  ~ Thomas Jefferson


“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  ~ Thomas Jefferson (Declaration of Independence)


"Liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human race... and cannot be wrested from any people, without the most manifest violation of justice."  ~ Alexander Hamilton


"Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature."  ~ Benjamin Franklin


"When you become entitled to exercise the right of voting for public officers, let it be impressed on your mind that God commands you to choose for rulers 'just men who will rule in the fear of God.'  The preservation of a republican government depends on the faithful discharge of this duty.

If the citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made not for the public good so much as for the selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizens will be violated or disregarded. If a republican government fails to secure public prosperity and happiness, it must be because the citizens neglect the divine commands, and elect bad men to make and administer the laws."    ~Noah Webster


“Providence seems by every means intent on making us a great people. May our virtues public and private grow with us, and be durable, that liberty, civil and religious, may be secured to our posterity, and to all from every part of the Old World that take refuge among us.”  ~Benjamin Franklin


“I believe with all my heart that standing up for America means standing up for the God who has so blessed our land.  We need God’s help to guide our nation through stormy seas.  But we can’t expect Him to protect America in a crisis if we just leave Him over on the shelf in our day-to-day living.”  ~Ronald Reagan


"From the poignancy of General Washington's legendary prayer in the snow at Valley Forge to the dangerous times in which we live today, our leaders and the people of this Nation have called upon Divine Providence and trusted in God's wisdom to guide us through the challenges we have faced as a people and a Nation."  Ronald Reagan

"What do we mean by the American Revolution? The revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people. . . . This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution."  John Adams


"Posterity who are to reap the blessings will scarcely be able to conceive the hardships and sufferings of their ancestors.”  Abigail Adams

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."  Thomas Paine

"Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of. Our enemies are numerous and powerful; but we have many friends, determining to be free, and heaven and earth will aid the resolution. On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important question, on which rest the happiness and liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves.”  Joseph Warren 

"We have proclaimed to the world our determination to die freemen, rather than to live slaves."   Samuel Adams

“Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun!  The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"   Patrick Henry

"The hour is fast approaching, on which the Honor and Success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding Country depend. Remember officers and Soldiers, that you are Freemen, fighting for the blessings of Liberty - that slavery will be your portion, and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men."   George Washington 

"Yonder are the Hessians. They were bought for seven pounds and tenpence a man. Are you worth more? Prove it. Tonight the American flag floats from yonder hill or Molly Stark sleeps a widow!"  General John Stark

"I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means."  John Adams

"His heritage to his children wasn't words or possessions, but an unspoken treasure, the treasure of his example as a man and a father."  ~Will Rogers Jr.


"My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: he believed in me."  ~Sharon James 


"What do I owe my father? Everything."  ~Henry Van Dyke


"Big as he was, [my dad] never tried to make anyone feel small. Powerful as he became, he never took advantage of those who were weaker. Strength, he believed, was never more admirable than when it was applied with restraint. Shopkeeper, doorman, king or queen, it made no difference, Dad treated everyone with the same unfailing courtesy. Acknowledging the innate dignity in us all."  ~Ron Reagan Jr.


 "When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. "  ~Mark Twain


"I just owe almost everything to my father and it’s passionately interesting to me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election."  ~Margaret Thatcher


"The patriot blood of my father was warm in my veins."  ~Clara Barton


"My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard.  Mother would come out and say, 'You're tearing up the grass.'    'We're not raising grass,' Dad would reply. 'We're raising boys.'"  
~Harmon Killebrew


"He opened the jar of pickles when no one else could.  He was the only one in the house who wasn't afraid to go into the basement by himself.  He cut himself shaving, but no one kissed it or got excited about it.  It  was understood when it rained, he got the car and brought it around to the door.  When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription filled.  He took lots of pictures. . . but he was never in them."  ~Erma Bombeck


"The measure of a man is not of his worth, but what he means to those he loves."  ~Leisha Farnsworth

“Today is the day we put aside to remember fallen heroes and to pray that no heroes will ever have to die for us again. It's a day of thanks for the valor of others, a day to remember the splendor of America and those of her children who rest in this cemetery and others. It's a day to be with the family and remember.”  Ronald Reagan

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."  Thomas Paine 

"But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or to detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."   Abraham Lincoln 

"Posterity who are to reap the blessings will scarcely be able to conceive the hardships and sufferings of their ancestors.”        Abigail Adams

"To be prepared for war, is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." George Washington

"The hour is fast approaching, on which the Honor and Success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding Country depend. Remember officers and Soldiers, that you are Freemen, fighting for the blessings of Liberty - that slavery will be your portion, and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men."  George Washington

"Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!  Patrick Henry

"In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.”  Jose Narosky

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things.  The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.  The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”  John S. Mill

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."  Abraham Lincoln

"Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and capacity, if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence."  Joseph Story

Freedom is Not Free  
by Kelly Strong

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children, 
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.

“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.” 

“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both” 

“Learned institutions ought to be favorite objects with every free people. They throw that light over the public mind which is the best security against crafty and dangerous encroachments on the public liberty.” 

“It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.” 

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness. . . . The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them."

“To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without virtue in the people is a chimerical idea.”

“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.”

“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce. ... The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives and liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State.”

“Disarm the people - that is the best and most effective way to enslave them.” 

“[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation (where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” 

“Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.” 

“Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things, be proper or safe judges, whether a war ought to be commenced, continued, or concluded. Thy are barred from the latter functions by a great principle in free government, analogous to that which separates the sword from the purse, or the power of executing from the power of enacting laws.” 

“No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.” 

“If tyranny and oppression come to this land it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.” 

“The means of defence against foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Throughout all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people.” 

“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” 

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

“It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. . . . The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much, soon to forget it. . . .”

“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and it's issuance.” 

Rulers never undertake an unjust policy without prefacing it with some speech concerning public welfare and common good.” ~Anonymous

"The trouble with Socialism is, sooner or later you run out of other people's money."  ~ Margaret Thatcher

“Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.”  ~Ronald Reagan

"The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not to give equal things."  ~Anonymous

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything he doesn't own."  ~Anonymous 

"You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."  Abraham Lincoln 

Capitalism is the unequal distribution of wealth.  Socialism is the equal distribution of poverty.”  ~Winston Churchill

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.  Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..."  ~Winston Churchill 

‎"The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both."  ~Milton Friedman

“The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.”  ~Alexis de Tocqueville

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”  ~Alexis de Tocqueville

"The greatest prosperity comes from a free-market economy, with only necessary government regulations.  ~Anonymous 

‎If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, & are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget & debt, reduced to a level that we can understand."  ~Dave Ramsey

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."  ~George Washington

“Class-warfare politics is bad enough when it is for real. But often it is as phony as a three-dollar bill, when the same politicians pass high tax rates on 'the rich' to win votes -- and then get financial support from 'the rich' to create loopholes that enable them to avoid paying those high tax rates."  ~Thomas Sowell

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer."  ~Benjamin Franklin

"Debt is a burden, and can lead to bondage."  ~Anonymous

"Americans are so enamored of equality, they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom."  ~ Alexis de Tocqueville 

"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."  ~Benjamin Franklin

"The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.  ~George Washington

"When you subsidize poverty and failure, you get more of both."  ~James Dale Davidson

"Property rights are essential to life, liberty, and prosperity."  ~Anonymous

"The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If `Thou shalt not covet' and `Thou shalt not steal' were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free."  -~John Adams

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.  What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.  The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.  You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.  When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does not good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that, is the beginning of the end of any nation.  ~ Adrian Rogers

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."  ~George Washington

A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government...."  ~Thomas Jefferson

“Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.”  ~Thomas Jefferson

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."  ~Thomas Jefferson

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

"The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If `Thou shalt not covet' and `Thou shalt not steal' were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free."  --John Adams

“I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.  ~Thomas Jefferson

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.  ~Thomas Jefferson

"With respect to future debt; would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare in the constitution they are forming that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself can validly contract more debt, than they may pay within their own age..."  ~Thomas Jefferson

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.  Already they have raised up a moneyed aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."  ~Thomas Jefferson

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."  ~Thomas Jefferson

“Thus out of small beginnings greater things have grown by His hand. Who made all things out of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light enkindled here has shone to many, yea, in a sense, to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise.”  ~William Bradford



So once in every year we throng
Upon a day apart,
To praise the Lord with feast and song
In thankfulness of heart.
~Arthur Guiterman, The First Thanksgiving


The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts.  No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.  ~H.U. Westermayer


Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.  ~Native American Saying


O Lord that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.
~William Shakespeare


For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.  ~Aesop


The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!  ~Henry Ward Beecher


We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.  ~Thornton Wilder


A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.  ~Cicero


Stand up, on this Thanksgiving Day, stand upon your feet.  Believe in man.  Soberly and with clear eyes, believe in your own time and place.  There is not, and there never has been a better time, or a better place to live in.  ~Phillips Brooks

Many people in his day thought Christopher Columbus was crazy.  After all, he was trying to do something no one had ever done.  Others were jealous of Columbus’ influence.  Still others wanted to take away his wealth and power.  

In spite of it all, Columbus persisted.  In his writings he gives us a glimpse into his heart, and how he could hang on.  Here are a few examples.

“It is hoped that by God’s assistance, some of the continents in the Ocean will be discovered….for the Glory of God.”

“My hope in the One who created us all sustains me; He is an ever present help in trouble…When I was extremely depressed, He raised me with His right hand, saying,'O man of little faith, get up, it is I; do not be afraid.'”

From his Book of Prophecies

“At a very early age I began to sail upon the ocean. For more than forty years, I have sailed everywhere that people go.

“I prayed to the most merciful Lord about my heart’s great desire, and He gave me the spirit and the intelligence for the task: seafaring, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, skill in drafting spherical maps and placing correctly the cities, rivers, mountains and ports. I also studied cosmology, history, chronology and philosophy.

“It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel His hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me.

“There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because he comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures...

“Our Lord Jesus desired to perform a very obvious miracle in the voyage to the Indies, to comfort me and the whole people of God. I spent seven years in the royal court, discussing the matter with many persons of great reputation and wisdom in all the arts; and in the end they concluded that it was all foolishness, so they gave it up.

“I am a most unworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolations since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous presence.

“For the execution of the journey to the Indies I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps. It is simply the fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied. All this is what I desire to write down for you in this book.

“No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Savior, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service. The working out of all things has been assigned to each person by our Lord, but it all happens according to His sovereign will...”

Columbus Day is the day we celebrate the amazing mission of Christopher Columbus.  He endured many years of preparation, privation, failure, frustration, humiliation, and disappointment.  But his efforts eventually culminated in historic voyages and monumental accomplishments.  His success required vision, faith, focus, and courage.  

Some of the quotes below are about Columbus.  Others relate to lessons we can learn from his life experiences.  Hope you enjoy!

Christopher Columbus was a man with a vision.  The vision came first, long before it reached fulfillment in the discovery.... Only after long years of single-minded dedication came at last a discovery.  ~ Delno C. West and August Kling

"One of the most striking aspects of the life of Christopher Columbus was his self-awareness as a man of destiny.  He viewed himself as the chosen and appointed messenger of God..."  ~ Delno C. West and August Kling

"Columbus . . . believed that the Holy Spirit had spoken to him, saying that his name would be proclaimed throughout the world.  He does not specify when or where this happened, only that it was "in my youth."  In his mind, he connected it to his success in discovering the New World.   ~ Delno C. West and August Kling

The Admiral was chosen for his great work by Our Lord, . . . and his affairs were directed by a secret Providence.  ~ Ferdinand Columbus

"This conviction that God destined him to be an instrument for spreading the faith was far more potent than the desire to win glory, wealth and worldly honors.  ~ Samuel Eliot Morison

"He [Columbus] stands out among the beacon lights of history as a man of vision dominated by a definite purpose.  ~ John George Jones

Every ship that comes to America got its chart from Columbus.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"He gave the world another world."  ~ George Santayana

"Many great ideas have been lost because the people who had them could not stand being laughed at."  ~ Author Unknown

Mistakes are the portals of discovery.  ~ James Joyce

Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.  ~ Robert F. Kennedy

“Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom." ~ John Adams

"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 primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government.  In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important?  And what duty more pressing…than…communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?”              ~  George Washington

"A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that  tyranny begins." 
~ Benjamin Franklin

"It is in the interest of tyrants to reduce the people to ignorance and vice. For they cannot live in any country where virtue and knowledge prevail." ~ Samuel Adams

"Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country." ~ Noah Webster

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of the government in the next.” ~  Abraham Lincoln

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people…They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.”
 ~ James Madison

“…a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” ~ James Madison

"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power." ~ Thomas Jefferson