I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. – James Madison, speech, Virginia Convention, 1788

The important thing today is not what we say of Lincoln but what Lincoln would say of us if he were here in this hour and could note the drift and tendency in American life and American politics. – Stephen Samuel Wise

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. – Dwight D. Eisenhower, first inaugural address, 20 January 1953