A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people. – James Madison
I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. – James Madison
The loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or imagined, from abroad. – James Madison
A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the best most natural defense of a free country. – James Madison
And this prime hour of fragrance is the hour so many miss upon beds of sloth, never half knowing what a beautiful, marvellous world is around them. Not all the long hours of day can possibly bring back again the charm and blessedness of this, either to the body or to the soul. – Sarah Smiley