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It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part.

James Madison

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Read Federalist No. 51 at the Library of Congress website

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Madison, James [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 51, The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments." New York Packet, 8 Feb. 1788.

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Madison, James. "No. 51: How to maintain: make the parts check each other. Also, a federal system divides power further.--Madison (or Hamilton)." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

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And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.

John F. Kennedy

Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy

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Kennedy, John F. "Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1961, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

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It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising the sovereignty. Usurpation is then an easy attainment, and an usurper soon found. The people themselves become the willing instruments of their own debasement and ruin. Let us, then, look to the great cause, and endeavor to preserve it in full force. Let us by all wise and constitutional measures promote intelligence among the people as the best means of preserving our liberties.

James Monroe

First Inaugural Address of James Monroe

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Monroe, James. "First Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1817, Front steps, Old Brick Capitol, Washington, DC, USA.

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In a progressive country change is constant; and the great question is, not whether you should resist change which is inevitable, but whether that change should be carried out in deference to the manners, the customs, the laws, the traditions of the people, or in deference to abstract principles and arbitrary and general doctrines.

Benjamin Disraeli

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Disraeli, Benjamin. Speech on Reform Bill of 1867. Conservative Banquet. 29 Oct. 1867, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.

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It is very strange that I, a boy brought up in the woods, and seeing, as it were, but little of the world, should be drifted into the very apex of this great event.

Abraham Lincoln

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Lincoln, Abraham. "Interview of a Canadian Editor with the President." The Daily Dispatch (Richmond), 5 Sept. 1864.

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Lincoln, Abraham. Quoted in "The People with the Governing Power," Conversations with Lincoln by Charles M. Segal. G. P. Putman's Sons, 1961.

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Government is like a baby—it’s got an alimentary canal at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

Ronald Reagan

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Reagan, Ronald. "Conservatives Rallied: Goldwater Can Win Presidency in 1968, CRA Convention." Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 1965, p. B5, col. 3. Originally, a joke during campaign for Governor of California in 1965.

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The State is an instrument in the hands of the ruling class, used to break the resistance of the adversaries of that class.

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Stalin, Joseph. The Foundations of Leninism. International Publishers, 1970, ch. 4, sect. 2. Originally a lecture called "The Dictatorship of the Proletariat." Foundations of Leninism lecture series. 1924, Sverdlov University, Moscow, Russia.

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Can authority be more amiable and respectable when it descends from accidents or institutions established in remote antiquity than when it springs fresh from the hearts and judgments of an honest and enlightened people?

John Adams

Inaugural Address of John Adams

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Adams, John. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1797, House Chamber, Congress Hall, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

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During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in har¬ mony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Nelson Mandela

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We must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend.

Margaret Thatcher

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Thatcher, Margaret. Speech to American Bar Association. 15 July 1985, Albert Hall, London, England, UK.

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The atom bomb is a paper tiger which the United States reactionaries use to scare people. It looks terrible, but in fact it isn't... All reactionaries are paper tigers.

Mao Zedong

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Zedong, Mao. Talk with the American Correspondent Anna Louise Strong. Aug. 1946.

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In a democracy, the people meet and exercise the government in person; in a republic, they assemble and administer it by their representatives and agents. A democracy, consequently, will be confined to a small spot. A republic may be extended over a large region.

James Madison

Federalist 14

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Madison, James [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 14: Objections to the Proposed Constitution From Extent of Territory Answered." New York Packet, 30 Nov. 1787.

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Madison, James. "No. 14: Proposed union not too large for republican government.--Madison." The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

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The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own... The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting Enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission; this is all we can expect-We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.

George Washington

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Washington, George. "General orders." 2 July 1776, New York City, NY, USA.

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Washington, George. The Papers of George Washington: Revolutionary War Series June-August 1776, edited by W. W. Abbot and Dorothy Twohig. Vol. 5, University of Virginia Press, 1993.

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We have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.

Barack Obama

Second Inaugural Address of Barack Obama

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Obama, Barack. "Second Inaugural Address." 21 Jan. 2013, West Front, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

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Never did a government commence under auspices so favorable, nor ever was success so complete. If we look to the history of other nations, ancient or modern, we find no example of a growth so rapid, so gigantic, of a people so prosperous and happy.

James Monroe

First Inaugural Address of James Monroe

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Monroe, James. "First Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1817, Front steps, Old Brick Capitol, Washington, DC, USA.

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The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

First Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt

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Roosevelt, Franklin D. "First Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1933, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

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Roosevelt, Franklin D. "First Inaugral Address: Washington, DC, March 4, 1933." Great Speeches, edited by John Grafton. Dover, 1999.

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Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose—and you allow him to make war at pleasure.

Abraham Lincoln

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Lincoln, Abraham. Letter to William H. Herndon. 15 Feb. 1848.

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Lincoln, Abraham. "To William H. Herndon, Febrary 15, 1848." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 1989.

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