Happy Presidents Day

In honor of Presidents Day, here are some quotes I found interesting, especially in light of Ruston’s current political climate. Let's hope we can all heed these words, even in Ruston. ~ Karen

George Washington:
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be lead, like sheep to the slaughter.

It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it.

Laws made by common consent must not be trampled on by individuals.

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.

Abraham Lincoln:
A house divided against itself cannot stand.

We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it.

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.

If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.

If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.

We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.

What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.

You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

John F. Kennedy:
For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.

The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.

The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

Ronald Reagan:
Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.

Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.

Facts are stubborn things.

I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life.

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

Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.

Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.

There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.

To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last - but eat you he will.

When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.