When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing - When you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, butt in favors - When you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you - When you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice - You may know that your society is doomed.

Why has government been instituted? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason & justice without constraint.

No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way harmed, nor will we go upon him nor will we send upon him, except by the legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.

You find out the necessity of Liberty as you find out the necessity of air—by not having enough of it.

They fear love because it creates a world they can't control.

It was while helping others to be free that I gained my own freedom.

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.

If there is anything in the world a person should fight for, it is freedom to pursue his ideal, because in that is his great opportunity for self-expression, for the unfoldment of the greatest thing possible to him.

You cannot possibly have a broader basis for any government than that which includes all the people, with all their rights in their hands, and with an equal power to maintain their rights.

The stability of the internal medium is a primary condition for the freedom and independence of certain living bodies in relation to the environment surrounding them.

I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.

The overwhelming importance of the atmosphere means that there are no longer any frontiers to defend against pollution, attack, or propaganda. It means, further, that only by a deep patriotic devotion to one’s country can there be a hope of the kind of protection of the whole planet, which is necessary for the survival of the people of other countries.

Those who enjoy responsibility usually get it; those who merely enjoy exercising authority usually lose it.

Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.

If it is any use to know it, I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it under water for every part that shows.

If you want to be successful, you must respect one rule: never lie to yourself.

But what is happiness except for the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads.

The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.

Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they will.

The world will ask you who you are, and if you don't know, the world will tell you.

The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.

Films, football, beer, and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.

We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.

It is the responsibility of leadership to work intelligently with what is given, and not to waste time fantasizing about a world of flawless people and perfect choices.

If you want the cooperation of humans around you, you must make them feel they are important, and you do that by being genuine and humble.

I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare—I have no use for him, either.

Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

As the eagle was killed by the arrow winged with his own feather, so the hand of the world is wounded by its own skill.

Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really man it.

Without education we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.

We have more machinery of government that is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.

Most people are on the world, not in it—have no conscious sympathy or relationship to anything about them—undiffused, separate, and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching but separate.

O beautiful for spacious skies, For Amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow-beings.

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.

That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false.

The things are mighty few on earth That wishes can attain. Whate'er we want of any worth We've go to work to gain.

Badness you can get easily, in quantity: the road is smooth, and it lies close by. But in front of excellence the immortal gods have put sweat, and long and steep is the way to it, and rough at first. But when you come to the top, then it is easy, even though it is hard.

I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass.

The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.