And here we come to the vital distinction between the advocacy of temperance and the advocacy of prohibition. Temperance and self-control are convertible terms. Prohibition, or that which it implies, is the direct negation of the term self-control. In order to save the small percentage of men who are too weak to resist their animal desires, it aims to put chains on every man, the weak and the strong alike. And if this is proper in one respect, why not in all respects? Yet, what would one think of a proposition to keep all men locked up because a certain number have a propensity to steal? — Felix Mendelsohn, 1915
Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim. — George Santayana, “The Life of Reason”
I’d rather that England should be free than that England should be compulsorily sober. With freedom we might in the end attain sobriety, but in the other alternative we should eventually lose both freedom and sobriety. — W.C. Magee, Archbishop of York, “Sermon at Peterborough,” 1868
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. — C.S. Lewis, in “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment,” an essay from “God In The Dock”
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves. — Ronald Reagan, The New York Times, April 13, 1980
The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. — John Stuart Mill
In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me–and by that time no one was left to speak up. — Pastor Martin Niemoller
When they took the 4th Amendment, I was quiet because I didn’t deal drugs.
When they took the 5th Amendment, I was quiet because I wasn’t a criminal.
When they took the 2nd Amendment, I was quiet because I didn’t own a gun.
Now they’ve taken the 1st Amendment, and I can say nothing about it. — author unknown
The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are constitutional rights secure. – Albert Einstein
[There is] a duty in refusing to cooperate in any undertaking that violates the Constitutional rights of the individual. This holds in particular for all inquisitions that are concerned with the private life and the political affiliations of the citizens. — Albert Einstein
An age is called Dark not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it. — James A. Michener (1907-1997), in the novel, “Space” (1982)