James Wilson, Of the Study of the Law in the United States, 1790 Browse All Authors Famous Quotes by James Wilson, Of the Study of the Law in the United States, 1790 FOUNDERS QUOTES ON FOUNDING PRINCIPLES Individual Liberty Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood. – John Adams, 1765 Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness. – In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example . . . of charters of power granted by liberty. This revolution in the practice of the world, may, with an honest praise, be pronounced the most triumphant epoch of its history, and the most consoling presage of its happiness. – James Madison, Essays for the National Gazette, 1792 James Wilson, Of the Study of the Law in the United States, 1790
