In 2019, Encounter Books published America’s Revolutionary Mind: A Moral History of the American Revolution and the Declaration That Defined It, a landmark book by C. Bradley Thompson. (See my brief review.) Now Prof. Thompson has launched his own imprint, Loco-Foco Press, with the publication of his beautiful short book, What America Is. This new book consists of […]
It is never too often to recall these words from the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are […]
Today I celebrated Independence Day by reading the Declaration of Independence and some pages of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Anyone who wonders about the connection is invited to read the right-hand column of the home page of this blog. Second Renaissance Books once published a tear-off calendar, “Ayn Rand Quote of the Day • […]
My blog has famous quotations of Patrick Henry here and on the sidebar of the main page. Here are two more that are a little less famous. “Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, […]
Thomas Jefferson to William Johnson, 1823: We believed that men, enjoying in ease and security the full fruits of their own industry, enlisted by all their interests on the side of law and order, habituated to think for themselves and to follow their reason as their guide, would be more easily and safely governed than […]
This is near the start of the speech: Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged […]
George Washington to Patrick Henry October 9, 1795: “I can most religiously aver that I have no wish that is incompatible with the dignity, happiness, and true interest of the people of this country. My ardent desire is, and my aim has been (as far as depended upon the Executive Department) to comply strictly with […]
http://ahp.gatech.edu/jefferson_inaug_1801.html Thomas Jefferson 3rd President of the United States First Inaugural Address Given at the Capitol Building, Washington, DC Wednesday, March 4, 1801 “… what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens — a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring […]