A Melancholy Law

"It is the melancholy law of human societies to be compelled sometimes to choose a great evil in order to ward off a greater." ~Thomas Jefferson; letter to William Short, 1814

A Putrid State

"I deplore with you the putrid state into which our newspapers have passed, and the malignity, the vulgarity, &mendacious spirit of those who write for them." ~Thomas Jefferson

Free Press

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and will never be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free...all is safe." ~Thomas Jefferson

Wrong is Still Wrong

"It will always happen, when a thing is originally wrong, that amendments do not make it right." ~Thomas Paine; Rights of Man I; 1791

Excuses

"It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one." ~George Washington

One Vote

"The true and only basis of representative government is equality of rights. Every man has a right to one vote, and no more in the choice of representatives." ~Thomas Paine; Dissertation on First Principles of Government, 1795

Equality

"Equal laws protecting equal rights are...the best guarantee of loyalty & love of country." ~James Madison; 1820

Ignorance

"Ignorance is of a peculiar nature; once dispelled, it is impossible to re-establish it. It is not originally a thing of itself, but is only the absence of knowledge; and though man may be kept ignorant, he cannot be made ignorant." ~Thomas Paine; Rights of Man