”[N]atural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human race, and…civil liberty is founded in that; and cannot be wrested from any people, without the most manifest violation of justice.”
“If it be asked, ‘What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic?’ The answer would be, ‘An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws the first growing out of the last.’ ... A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government.”
To being with: I am not a politician. I am an ordinary citizen with a deep-seated belief that much of what troubles us has been brought about by politicians; and it’s high time that more ordinary citizens brought the fresh air of common sense thinking to bear on these problems. We’ve had enough of the wheeling and dealing, and enough of schemers and schemes. I think it’s time now for dreamers—practical dreamers—willing to re-implement the original dream which became this nation—that idea that has never fully been tried before in the world—that you and I have the capacity of self-government—the dignity and the ability and the God’-given freedom to make our own decisions, to plan our own lives and to control our own destiny.
—Ronald Reagan (April 19, 1966)
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14