To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them. George Mason More Quotes by George Mason More Quotes From George Mason I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few public officials. George Mason second-amendment gun people The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments. George Mason freedom-of-the-press liberty government Considering the natural lust for power so inherent in man, I fear the thirst of power will prevail to oppress the people. George Mason wisdom men people We came equals into this world, and equals shall we go out of it. George Mason civil-rights this-world world 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 Don't wait around for your life to happen to you. Find something that makes you happy, and do it. Because everything else is all just background noise. George Mason background-noise make-you-happy waiting Government is, or ought to be instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of government, that is best which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration. George Mason safety government people When the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British parliament was advised by an artful man [Sir William Keith], who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people. That it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them. But that they should not do it openly; but to weaken them and let them sink gradually, by totally disusing and neglecting the militia. George Mason gun men america Nothing so strongly impels a man to regard the interest of his constituents, as the certainty of returning to the general mass of the people, from whence he was taken, where he must participate in their burdens. George Mason taken men people Every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant. They bring the judgment of heaven on a Country. As nations can not be rewarded or punished in the next world they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes & effects providence punishes national sins, by national calamities. George Mason tyrants heaven country Those gentlemen, who will be elected senators, will fix themselves in the federal town, and become citizens of that town more than of your state. George Mason voting gentleman political The question then will be, whether a consolidated government can preserve the freedom and secure the rights of the people. George Mason government rights people The laws of nature are the laws of God, whose authority can be superseded by no power on earth. George Mason patriotic earth law No point is of more importance than that the right of impeachment should be continued. Shall any man be above Justice? George Mason should justice men Happiness and Prosperity are now within our Reach; but to attain and preserve them must depend upon our own Wisdom and Virtue. George Mason depends prosperity virtue We are now to rank among the nations of the world; but whether our Independence shall prove a blessing or a curse must depend upon our own wisdom or folly, virtue or wickedness.... Justice and virtue are the vital principles of republican government. George Mason government blessing justice In all our associations; in all our agreements let us never lose sight of this fundamental maxim - that all power was originally lodged in, and consequently is derived from, the people. George Mason agreement sight people Every selfish motive therefore, every family attachment, ought to recommend such a system of policy as would provide no less carefully for the rights and happiness of the lowest than of the highest orders of Citizens. George Mason selfish attachment order There is a Passion natural to the Mind of man, especially a free Man, which renders him impatient of Restraint. George Mason passion mind men All men have an equal, natural and unalienable right to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that no particular sect or society of Christians ought to be favored or established by law in preference to others. George Mason christian exercise men
