Government is not reason;
it is not eloquent; it is force.
Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

~George Washington

By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
Second, by imitation, which is easiest;
and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

~Confucius

It is good to be without vices, but it is not good to be without temptations.

~Walter Bagehot (1826 - 1877), "Biographical Studies", 1863

A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however,
has never learned how to walk forward.

~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion,
but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.

~Adlai E. Stevenson