Thought of the Day

“I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution … or have failed their purpose … or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is ‘needed’ before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should be attacked for neglecting my constituents’ ‘interests,’ I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is liberty, and in that cause I am doing the very best I can.” –Barry Goldwater

“Our own Country’s Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble Actions – The Eyes of all our Countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the Tyranny mediated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and shew the whole world, that a Freeman contending for Liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.” –George Washington, General Orders, 1776

“First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in humble and enduring scenes of private life. Pious, just humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform dignified, and commanding; his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting; correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private charter gave effulgence to his public virtues.” –John Marshall, official eulogy of George Washington, delivered by Richard Henry Lee, 1799

“I’ve been called a lot of things… but never, I mean never, could anyone make the mistake of calling me a Yankee fan. Well, check that, if you didn’t know what the hell is going on in your own state maybe you could.” – Curt Schilling

It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first. – Ronald Reagan

“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” – Ronald Reagan

“A new study determined that the phrase President Obama uses most often is ‘Let me be clear.’  The phrase he uses the least often? ‘Let me be SPECIFIC.’” – Jay Leno

“Never assume the obvious is true.” – William Safire

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” — Ferris Bueller (as written by John Hughes)

“Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the Democrats believe every day is April 15.“ – Ronald Reagan