Quotes From the Founding Fathers

All content is ©1994-2000 Michael Myers except where otherwise attributed.

Last updated:
Tuesday, August 22, 2000 10:01 AM

Quotes From the Founders and their influences:

Xtians often hold forth with "This country was founded on Xtian principles" This is an interesting concept, but certainly not that well researched. The Founders and those who influenced them held a variety of beliefs, with deism being the most prevalent. One defining theme was personal liberty and responsibility. To get a pretty decent look at the political viewpoints of the founders, read the Federalist Papers. The Founders also considered anonymity an absolute right, as they grasped the simple fact that it is impossible to successfully criticize a powerful entity, be it government or corporate, while being identifiable.

"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference -- they deserve a place of honor with all that's good" - George Washington

"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson (Proposal Virginia Constitution, June 1776, 1 T. Jeferson Papers,334 (C.J. Boyd, Ed.,1950)) also "The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus by the Supreme Being in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." - Thomas Jefferson also "In every country and every age, the priest has been hostile to Liberty." - Thomas Jefferson - also "I do not find in orthodox Christianity one redeeming feature." - Thomas Jefferson Author of his own reinterpretation of the scripture, called the Jefferson Bible. Not liked by the church.

"The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand, arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside...Horrid mischief would ensue were half the world deprived the use of them..."

- Thomas Paine, I writings of Thomas Paine at 56 (1894)

"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church." - Thomas Paine Author of "Common Sense" also "Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst." -- Thomas Paine

They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. --Benjamin Franklin Historical Review of Pennsylvania

"The Bible is not my book, and Christianity is not my religion. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma." - Abraham Lincoln

"It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue." -- Voltaire Enlightnment philospher oft quoted by the Founders!

Later worthies and their quotes favoring liberty:

"The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning, without understanding." - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and "Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burned women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears." --Brandeis

"Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime." - Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart

Last updated:Wednesday, September 2, 1998
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