Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence. From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."
George Washington
Pro-Gun Rights
"I know not what course
others may take,
but as for me,
give me liberty
or give me death."
Patrick Henry
Don't think of retiring from the world
until the world will be sorry that you
retire. I hate a fellow whom pride
or cowardice or laziness drives into
a corner, and who does nothing when
he's there but sit and growl.
Let him come out as I do, and bark.
Samuel Johnson
The highest number to which a standing army can be carried in any country does not exceed one hundredth part of the souls, or one twenty-fifth part of the number able to bear arms. This portion would not yield, in the United States, an army of more than twenty-five or thirty thousand men. To these would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million citizens with arms in their hands, officered by men chosen from among themselves, fighting for their common liberties and united and conducted by governments possessing their affections and confidence. It may well be doubted whether a militia thus circumstanced could ever be conquered by such a proportion of regular troops. Besides the advantage of being armed, it forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. The governments of Europe are afraid to trust the people with arms. If they did, the people would surely shake off the yoke of tyranny, as America did. Let us not insult the free and gallant citizens of America with the suspicion that they would be less able to defend the rights of which they would be in actual possession than the debased subjects of arbitrary power would be to rescue theirs from the hands of their oppressors.
James Madison
What, Sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. ...Whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins."
Rep. Elbridge Gerry
of Massachusetts
Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, who are not only prepared to take arms,
but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily lives,
and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom.
John F. Kennedy
Dare Greatly
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong
man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belong to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face
is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs
and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions, and spends himself in a
worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high
achievement; and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while
daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and
timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
Motive Power
It is only through labor and prayerful effort, by grim energy and
resolute courage, that we move on to better things.
Theodore Roosevelt
Speak softly but carry a big stick.
Theodore Roosevelt
Taking Chances
No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his body,
to risk his well-being, to risk his life, in a great cause.
Theodore Roosevelt
Insurance
Cultivate literature and useful knowledge, for the purpose of
qualifying the rising generation for patrons of good government,
virtue and happiness.
George Washington
Fit To Live
If a man hasn't discovered
something that he will die for,
he isn't fit to live.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ask Not
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
John F. Kennedy
Regrets
I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.
Alternatives
There are two ways of being happy; we may either diminish our wants or
augment our means.
Either will do, the result is the same. And it is for each man to decide
for himself, and do that which happens to be the easiest.
If you are idle or sick or poor, however hard it may be for you
to diminish your wants, it will be harder to augment your means.
If you are active and prosperous or young or in good health, it may be
easier for you to augment your means than to diminish your wants.
But if you are wise, you will do both at the same time, young or old,
rich or poor, sick or well. And if you are very wise, you will do
both in such a way as to augment the general happiness of society.
Benjamin Franklin
Life's Loyalties
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to
succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must
stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right,
and part with him when he goes wrong.
Abraham Lincoln
Faith
During the Civil War fourteen inmates of Andersonville Prison,
on August 20, 1864, bowed in prayer to the Almighty that He would
send them water; and a spring broke out on the outside of the wall
and ran through the prison. The people there were unanimous in
their belief that it was of divine origin, the water in the nearby
stream being fearfully unwholesome. The spring is reported to be
still flowing.
Christian Endeavor World
The Human Race
The human race is in the best condition
when it has the greatest degree of liberty.
Dante
Past
Study the past if you would divine the future.
Confucius
Impossibility
Law never does anything constructive.
We have had enough of legislators
promising to do that which laws can not do.
Henry Ford
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
The will of the people
is the only legitimate foundation
of any government, and to protect
its free expression
should be our first object.
Thomas Jefferson
Let Every Nation
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall
pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend,
oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.
John F. Kennedy
Genuine Heroism
The characteristic of a genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have
wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have resolved
to be great, abide by yourself, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself
with the world. The heroic cannot be common, nor the common heroic.
Ralph Waldo Emmerson.
The Silent Wall
May that silent wall shout out for peace as we all should
now and forever. For while most walls keep people apart, it's "the wall"
that brought us together."
From, Images and offerings from
Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Misunderstood
No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War.
It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now. Rarely have so
many people been so wrong about so much. Never have the consequences
of their misunderstanding been so tragic.
Nixon
Die For
Courage,
an independant spark from
heaven's bright throne,
by which the soul stands
raised, triumphant, high,
alone.
Unknown
Two Alternatives
We shall meanly lose or nobly
save the last hope of earth.
Abraham Lincoln
Growth
All growth depends upon activity. There is no development physically or
intellectually without effort, and effort means work. Works is not
a curse; it is the perogative of intelligence, the only means
to manhood, and the measure of civilization.
Calvin Coolidge
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.
John F. Kennedy
The characteristic of a genuine heroism is its persistency. All men have wandering impulses, fits and starts of generosity. But when you have resolved to be great, abide by yourself, and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself with the world. The heroic cannot be common, nor the common heroic.
Ralph Waldo Emmerson
