Character of Public Men

"Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust be men of unexceptionable characters. The public cannot be too curious concerning the character of public men."

Samuel Adams; Letter to James Warren, November 4, 1775

Governmental Restraint

"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."

Alexander Hamilton

Built Upon the Rock

“ God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
"We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel”

Benjamin Franklin
–Constitutional Convention of 1787 | original manuscript of this speech

Right and Wrong

"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right."

Thomas Paine

Power of Consent

"No power on earth has a right to take our property from us without our consent."

John Jay

Religion: A Solid Base

"Religion is the solid basis of good morals; therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, and the duties of man toward God."

Gouverneur Morris

Redistribution of Wealth

"To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father’s has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."

Thomas Jefferson

Welfare

"The republic will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work, and give to those who would not."

Thomas Jefferson

Redistribution of Wealth

"Be forewarned, the pooling of property and the redistributing of wealth are despotic and unconstitutional."

Samuel Adams