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Famous Quotes
 

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The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

A classic since 1953 with over 20,000 quotes from over 3,000 authors.


Famous Last Words

Apt Observations, Pleas, Curses, Benedictions, Sour Notes, Bons Mots, and Insights from People on the Brink of Departure


Stretch Your Wings

Famous Black Quotations for the Young


American Quotations

An exhaustive collection of profound quotes from the founding fathers, presidents, statesmen, scientists, constitutions, court decisions


The Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations


Last Words of Saints and Sinners

700 Final Quotes from the Famous, the Infamous, and the Inspiring Figures of History


America's God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations

Contains over 2,100 profound quotations from founding fathers, presidents, constitutions, court decisions and more


The Law

This 1850 classic is an absolute must read for anyone interested in law, justice, truth, or liberty. A most compelling and revolutionary look at The Law.


Bartlett's Familiar Quotations

A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature (17th Edition)


The Stupidest Things Ever Said by Politicians

Rise up, America -- and laugh out loud at the greatest gaffes that no spin doctor could possibly fix!


The 776 Even Stupider Things Ever Said

Another great collection of stupidity


Quotable Quotes

Wit and Wisdom for All Occasions from America's Most Popular Magazine


The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Time

You don't have to be a genius to sound like one. Here's a collection of the most profound and provocative wit and wisdom in the English language in two lines or less.


2,715 One-Line Quotations for Speakers, Writers & Raconteurs

Invaluable sampler of witticisms, epigrams, sayings, bon mots, platitudes and insights chosen for their brevity and pithiness.


Phillips' Book of Great Thoughts Funny Sayings

A stupendous collection of quotes, quips, epigrams, witticisms, and humorous comments for personal enjoyment and ready reference.


Quick Quips and Quotes; 532 Things I Wish I Had Said

Quick Quips and Quotes is the Ultimate Collection of one liners.


Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes

The ultimate anthology of anecdotes, now revised with over 700 new entries.


Quotations for Public Speakers

A Historical, Literary, and Political Anthology


Liberty - The American Revolution

This compelling series traces the events leading up to the war and America's fight for freedom.


Founding Fathers

The story of how these disparate characters fomented rebellion in the colonies, formed the Continental Congress, fought the Revolutionary War, and wrote the Constitution


Libertarianism: A Primer

David Boaz, director of the Cato Institute, has written a simple introduction to Libertarianism inteneded to appeal to disgruntled Democrats and Republicans everywhere.


The Libertarian Reader

Classic and Contemporary Writings from Lao-Tzu to Milton Friedman


Thomas Paine: Collected Writings

All the classics: Common Sense / The Crisis / Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / Pamphlets, Articles, and Letters

 
Justice Louis D. BrandeisThe constitutional right of free speech has been declared to be the same in peace and war. In peace, too, men may differ widely as to what loyalty to our country demands, and an intolerant majority, swayed by passion or by fear, may be prone in the future, as it has been in the past, to stamp as disloyal opinions with which it disagrees. 
Justice Louis D. BrandeisWe can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both. 
Justice Louis D. BrandeisIn the frank expression of conflicting opinions lies the greatest promise of wisdom in governmental action. 
Justice Louis D. BrandeisIt is one of the happy incidents of the federal system, that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country. 
Justice Louis D. BrandeisThe most important political office is that of private citizen. 
Justice Louis D. BrandeisThose who won our independence believed that the final end of the State was to make men free to develop their faculties... They valued liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty. 
Nathaniel BrandenA depression is a large-scale decline in production and trade... there is nothing in the nature of a free-market economy to cause such an event. 
Nathaniel BrandenThe policy of seeking values from human beings by means of force, when practiced by an individual, is called crime. When practiced by a government, it is called statism ... 
Nathaniel BrandenIndividualism is at once an ethical-psychological concept and an ethical-political one. As an ethical-psychological concept, individualism holds that a human being should think and judge independently, respecting nothing more than the sovereignty of his or her mind; thus, it is intimately connected with the concept of autonomy. As an ethical-political concept, individualism upholds the supremacy of individual rights ... 
Nathaniel BrandenForce, governmental coercion, is the instrument by which the ethics of altruism -- the belief that the individual exists to serve others -- is translated into political reality. 
Dr. Paul F. BrandweinAs teachers, we enter the minds of others; thus we live in eternity. We help others live better lives, thus teaching remains a mercy. 
Dr. Paul F. Brandwein (False)Every child who believes in God is mentally ill. 
Robert BraultToday I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true. 
Tom BraunThere is no wisdom without knowledge. 
Tom BraunIf you think we are free today, you know nothing about tyranny and even less about freedom. 
Bertolt BrechtThose who take the most from the table, teach contentment. Those for whom the taxes are destined, demand sacrifice. Those who eat their fill, speak to the hungry, of wonderful times to come. Those who lead the country into the abyss, call ruling difficult, for ordinary folk. 
Bertolt BrechtSuppose they gave a war, and nobody came? Why then, the war would come to you! 
Justice William J. BrennanAll ideas having even the slightest redeeming social importance – unorthodox ideas, controversial ideas, even ideas hateful to the prevailing climate of opinion, have the full protection of the guarantees [of the First Amendment]. 
Justice William J. BrennanThe Framers of the Bill of Rights did not purport to “create” rights. Rather they designed the Bill of Rights to prohibit our Government from infringing rights and liberties presumed to be preexisting. 
Justice William J. BrennanThe door of the Free Exercise Clause stands tightly closed against any government regulation of religious beliefs as such. Government may neither compel affirmation of a repugnant belief, nor penalize or discriminate against individuals or groups because they hold views abhorrent to the authorities. 
Justice William J. BrennanThere is no such thing as a false idea. 
Justice William J. BrennanIf there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable. 
Justice William J. BrennanThe concept of military necessity is seductively broad, and has a dangerous plasticity. Because they invariably have the visage of overriding importance, there is always a temptation to invoke security "necessities" to justify an encroachment upon civil liberties. For that reason, the military-security argument must be approached with a healthy skepticism. 
Justice William J. BrennanIf there is a bedrock principle of the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable. 
Reuven BrennerHistorians and economists are very good at creating and perpetuating myths that justify increasing the power placed in the hands of government. 
Kingman BrewsterUniversities should be safe havens where ruthless examination of realities will not be distorted by the aim to please or inhibited by the risk of displeasure. 
Mika BrezinskiAnd it could be that while unemployment and the economy worsens, [President Trump] could have undermined the messaging so much that he can actually control what people think. And that, that is our job. 
Harry BridgesNo man has ever been born a Negro hater, a Jew hater, or any other kind of hater. Nature refuses to be involved in such suicidal practices. 
Robert BriffaultAbsolutism is a guarantee of objectionable morals in the same way that absolutism in government is a guarantee of objectionable government. 
John BrightForce is not a remedy. 
Ashleigh BrilliantI either want less corruption, or more chance to participate in it. 
Ashleigh BrilliantTo be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, and call whatever you hit the target. 
Ashleigh BrilliantI waited and waited, and when no message came, I knew it must have been from you. 
Ashleigh BrilliantBy doing just a little every day, I can gradually let the task completely overwhelm me. 
David BrinIt is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. 
David BrinkleyThe one function that TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were. 
David BroderAnybody that wants the Presidency so much that he'll spend two years organizing and campaigning for it is not to be trusted with the office. 
Jacob BronowskiThere is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy. All information is imperfect. We have to treat it with humility. 
Yaron BrookBut while capitalism may be a convenient scapegoat, it did not cause any of these problems. Indeed, whatever one wishes to call the unruly mixture of freedom and government controls that made up our economic and political system during the last three decades, one cannot call it capitalism. 
Henry Brooke. . . for righteous monarchs, Justly to judge, with their own eyes should see; To rule o'er freemen, should themselves be free. 
Bellamy BrooksEgotism is the anesthetic given by a kindly nature to relieve the pain of being a damned fool. 
Dr. Joyce BrothersI think we should follow a simple rule: if we can take the worst, take the risk. 
Heywood BrounFree speech is about as good a cause as the world has ever known. But it…gets shoved aside in favor of things which at a given moment more vital…everybody favors free speech in the slack moments when no axes are being ground. 
Heywood BrounThe censor believes that he can hold back the mighty traffic of life with a tin whistle and a raised right hand. For after all, it is life with which he quarrels. 
Heywood Hale BrounThe urge to gamble is so universal and its practice so pleasurable that I assume it must be evil. 
Heywood Hale BrounAppeasers believe that if you keep on throwing steaks to a tiger, the tiger will turn vegetarian. 
Earl BrowderThe American communists worked energetically and tirelessly to lay the foundations for the United Nations which we were sure would come into existence. … It can be said, without exaggeration, that ever closer relations between our nation and the Soviet Union are an unconditional requirement for the United Nations as a world coalition. … The United Nations is the instrument for victory. Victory is required for the survival of our nation. The Soviet Union is an essential part of the United Nations. Mutual confidence between our country and the Soviet Union and joint work in the leadership of the United Nations are absolutely necessary. 
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. 
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.People take different roads seeking fulfillment & happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost. 
James A. C. BrownCommunism and fascism or nazism, although poles apart in their intellectual content, are similar in this, that both have emotional appeal to the type of personality that takes pleasure in being submerged in a mass movement and submitting to superior authority. 
James A. C. BrownThere exists a “fear of freedom” of selfhood, which makes people want to submerge themselves in the mass and confession is one of the obvious means by which they can do so, for thereby they lose those traits which cause them to feel separate. 
Justice Janice BrownThe quixotic desire to do good, be universally fair and make everybody happy is understandable [...] There is only one problem with this approach. We are a court. 
Jerry BrownAs we all learned from the sorry experience of state-sanctioned bureaucracies in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, decentralization [in education] is crucial to both freedom and excellence. 
Norman O. BrownFreedom is poetry, taking liberties with words, breaking the rules of normal speech, violating common sense. 
Rome G. Brown[T]he best elements of the national and state bars are seriously and energetically working for practical reforms in legal procedure, in the manner of the selection of judges, and in the prevention of delays and against the miscarriage of justice, and this, too, by feasible and constitutional measures and by every constructive and really progressive method which can be devised; and that the fact that satisfactory remedies have not yet been attained, is not the fault of the bench or of the bar, whose leaders have for years been urging upon the people, through the legislatures, fully formulated and efficient remedial measures. The fault lies with the people themselves, whose direct representatives in the legislatures, national and state, refuse properly to consider and act upon proposed laws of authenticated and undeniable efficacy.  
Harry BrowneThe free market punishes irresponsibility. Government rewards it. 
Harry BrowneYou can't give the government the power to do good without also giving it the power to do bad - in fact, to do anything it wants. 
Harry BrowneBeing a politician means never having to say you're sorry. You don't have to say, 'I never should have voted to subsidize that ridiculous Enron project in India.' ... After all, they're greedy businessmen and you're a selfless public servant. 
Harry BrowneFor those looking for security, be forewarned that there's nothing more insecure than a political promise. 
Harry BrowneThe press is hostile to the idea of liberty.  Most people in the press are for big government.  Most people think that the solution to anything, whether it's health care problems, education, whatever it is -- it's got to be more government. 
Harry BrowneThe Bill of Rights is a literal and absolute document. The First Amendment doesn't say you have a right to speak out unless the government has a 'compelling interest' in censoring the Internet. The Second Amendment doesn't say you have the right to keep and bear arms until some madman plants a bomb. The Fourth Amendment doesn't say you have the right to be secure from search and seizure unless some FBI agent thinks you fit the profile of a terrorist. The government has no right to interfere with any of these freedoms under any circumstances. 
Harry BrowneWe should never define libertarian positions in terms coined by liberals and conservatives, nor as some variant of their positions. We are not fiscally conservative and socially liberal. We are libertarians, who believe in individual liberty and personal responsibility on all issues at all times. 
Harry BrowneIf the Fed had a war on abortion like its war on poverty or war on drugs, within 5 years men would be having abortions! 
Harry BrowneThe income tax is the biggest single intrusion suffered by the American people. It forces every worker to be a bookkeeper, to open his records to the government, to explain his expenses, to fear conviction for a harmless accounting error. Compliance wastes billions of dollars. It penalizes savings and creates an enormous drag on the U.S. economy. It is incompatible with a free society, and we aren’t libertarians if we tolerate it. 
Harry BrowneThere are no violent gangs fighting over aspirin territories. There are no violent gangs fighting over whisky territories or computer territories or anything else that's legal. There are only criminal gangs fighting over territories covering drugs, gambling, prostitution, and other victimless crimes. Making a non-violent activity a crime creates a black market, which attracts criminals and gangs, which turns what was once a relatively harmless activity affecting a small group of people into a widespread epidemic of drug use and gang warfare. 
Harry BrowneGovernment is a parasite—a cancer that by nature tries to spread deeper into society. Those who want to run others’ lives won’t give up and start minding their own business. 
Harry BrowneRepublicans campaign like Libertarians and govern like Democrats. 
Harry BrowneThe government is good at one thing. It knows how to break your legs, and then hand you a crutch and say, ‘See if it weren’t for the government, you wouldn’t be able to walk.’ 
Harry BrowneA little government involvement is just as dangerous as a lot -- because the first leads inevitably to the second. 
Harry BrowneAsset forfeiture is a mockery of the Bill of Rights. There is no presumption of innocence, no need to prove you guilty (or even charge you with a crime), no right to a jury trial, no right to confront your accuser, no right to a court-appointed attorney (even if the government has just stolen all your money), and no right to compensation for the property that's been taken.  
Harry BrowneI want a government small enough to fit inside the Constitution. 
Harry BrowneA welfare state is frightened of every poor person who tries to get in and every rich person who tries to get out. 
Merry BrowneThe elegance of honesty needs no adornment. 
Sir Thomas BrowneThe mortalist enemy unto knowledge, and that which hath done the greatest execution unto truth, has been a preemptory adhesion unto authority. 
Orville BrowningBe assured that if this new provision [the 14th Amendment] be engrafted in the Constitution, it will, in time, change the entire structure and texture of our government, and sweep away all the guarantees of safety devised and provided by our patriotic Sires of the Revolution. 


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