Militia Quotes - Page 3

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  The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Strength, Wisdom, Veterans Day

  Letter to William Stephens Smith, 13 Nov. 1787

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• Wherever standing armies are kept up, and when the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.

  St. George Tucker

  Army, Gun, Color

  William Blackstone, St. George Tucker (1996). “Blackstone's Commentaries: With Notes of Reference to the Constitution and Laws, of the Federal Government of the United States, and of the Commonwealth of Virginia: With an Appendix to Each Volume, Containing Short Tracts Upon Such Subjects as Appeared Necessary to Form a Connecte”, p.300, The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

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• Have we the means of resisting disciplined armies, when our only defense, the militia, is put in the hands of Congress? Of what service would militia be to you when, most probably, you will not have a single musket in the state? For, as arms are to be provided by Congress, they may or may not provide them.

  Patrick Henry

  Mean, Army, Hands

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• The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world not destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside ... Horrid mischief would ensue were one half the world deprived of the use of them ... the weak will become prey to the strong.

  Thomas Paine

  Strong, Gun, Weak Will

  Thomas Paine (2014). “Selected Writings of Thomas Paine”, p.4, Yale University Press

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• Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them.

  Thomas Paine

  Motivation, Fear, Gun

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• A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of your walks.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Being Strong, Nature, Character

  Quoted in Colin Jarman The Guinness Dictionary of Sports Quotations (1990).

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• An armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics - that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe.

  James Madison

  Army, Patriotism, Liberty

  James Madison, Ralph Ketcham “Selected Writings of James Madison”, Hackett Publishing

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• Hizbullah is not a militia.

  Bashar al-Assad

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• The militia, who are in fact the effective part of the people at large, will render many troops quite unecessary. They will form a powerful check upon the regular troops, and will generally be sufficient to over-awe them.

  Tench Coxe

  Powerful, People, Second Amendment

  "An American Citizen: An Examination of the Constitution of the United States IV". Publication by Tench Coxe, teachingamericanhistory.org. October 21, 1788.

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• To place any dependence upon militia, is, assuredly, resting upon a broken staff.

  George Washington

  War, Broken, Staff

  George Washington (1871). “Words of Washington”, p.61

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• The National Rifle Association is always arguing that the Second Amendment determines the right to bear arms. But I think it really is the people's right to bear arms in a militia. The NRA thinks it protects their right to have Teflon-coated bullets. But that's not the original understanding.

  Robert Bork

  Thinking, Always Arguing, People

  "Advocates: Point and Counterpoint, Laurence Tribe and Robert Bork Debate the Framers' Spacious Terms". Miriam Bensimhorn, Life Magazine (Special Issue), Fall 1991.

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• I ask you sir, who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people.

  George Mason

  Gun, People, Second Amendment

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• The powers of the sword are in the hands of the yeomanry of America from sixteen to sixty. The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be tremendous and irresistible. Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom. Congress has no power to disarm the militia.

  Tench Coxe

  Gun, Second Amendment, Arms

  The Pennsylvania Gazette, February 20, 1788.

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• To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms.

  Richard Henry Lee

  Gun, Strong Arms, People

  Richard Henry Lee (1978). “Letters from the Federal farmer to the Republican”, Univ of Alabama Pr

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• A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves... and include all men capable of bearing arms.

  Richard Henry Lee

  4th Of July, Men, Gun

  Richard Henry Lee, Mercy Otis Warren (1962). “An Additional number of letters from the Federal farmer to the Republican, leading to a fair examination of the system of government, proposed by the late Convention: to several essential and necessary alterations in it; and calculated to illustrate and support the principles and positions laid down in the preceding letters. Together with Oberservations on the new Constitution, and on the Federal and State Conventions by a Columbian patriot”

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• Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe.

  Noah Webster

  Country, Army, Gun

  Noah Webster (1787). “An Examination Into the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution Proposed by the Late Convention Held at Philadelphia: With Answers to the Principal Objections that Have Been Raised Against the System”, p.43

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• A well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

  George Mason

  Army, Gun, People

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• Know then, unnumber'd Spirits round thee fly, The light Militia of the lower sky.

  Alexander Pope

  Light, Sky, Spirit

  Alexander Pope (1715). “The Rape of the Lock: An Heroi-comical Poem : in Five Canto's”, p.3

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• The President, and government, will only control the militia when a part of them is in the actual service of the federal government, else, they are independent and not under the command of the president or the government. The states would control the militia, only when called out into the service of the state, and then the governor would be commander in chief where enumerated in the respective state constitution.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Independent, Government, President

  "The Federalist Papers". Book by Alexander Hamilton, essay No. 69, 1787 - 1788.

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• The Second Amendment has a preamble about the need for a militia. Because there is a need for a militia to be at the ready, therefore the right to keep and bear arms must be secured.

  Ruth Bader Ginsburg

  Second Amendment, Needs, Arms

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• A militia law, requiring all men, or with very few exceptions besides cases of conscience, to be provided with arms and ammunition... is always a wise institution, and, in the present circumstances of our country, indispensable.

  John Adams

  Wise, Country, Men

  John Adams (1851). “The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations”, p.199

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• ... large and permanent military establishments ... are forbidden by the principles of free government, and against the necessity of which the militia were meant to be a constitutional bulwark.

  James Madison

  Military, Government, President

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• The Scriptures have been misused to defend bloody crusades and inquisitions; to support slavery, apartheid, and segregation; to sanction the physical and emotional abuse of women and children; to persecute Jews and other non-Christian people of faith; to support the holocaust of Hitler's Third Reich; to oppose medical science; to condemn inter-racial marriage; to execute women as witches; to excuse the violent racism of the Ku Klux Klan; to mobilize militias, white supremacy and neo-nazi movements; and to condone intolerance and discrimination against sexual minorities.

  Mel White

  Christian, Children, Gay

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• The main mineral in your cellphone, coltan [a black metallic ore], comes from the Eastern Congo. Multinational corporations are there exploiting the very rich mineral resources of the region. A lot of them are backing militias which are fighting one other to gain control of the resources or a piece of the resources.

  Noam Chomsky

  Fighting, Black, Pieces

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• Today, we will hear from federal law enforcement agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, who will discuss the problem of ELF and ALF and law enforcement's reaction to their dangerous and destructive tactics. It is these tactics, particularly the widespread use of arson, which makes ELF and ALF the #1 domestic terror concern over the likes of white supremacists, militias, and anti-abortion groups.

  James Inhofe

  Law, White, Agency

  Senate Hearing 109-947 before Committee on Environment and Public Works, May 18, 2005.

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