Quotessence
Home / Topics / Fundamentals Quotes

Fundamentals Quotes

Browse 2501 quotes about Fundamentals.

Related topics

PeopleIfsHumansThinkingWayMenWorldPrinciplesShouldKnowsNeedsLawFundamental PrinciplesFirstsBelieveIdeasProblemValuesFactsMayStatesGovernmentImportantRightsHas BeensMeanMatterDoeWantMindScienceGivingTryingUniverseChildrenDifferencesPersonsSocialIndividualYearsBeliefReasonHuman BeingsCountryRealityArtFormPoliticalMadeStillsTheoryTwoWellsForceKindLongIssuesProcessEconomyLevelsSelfFeelsNationsWholeMoralSeemsNaturalCultureHumanityChristianConstitutionDemocracyLooksTodayDifferentExistenceInterestPracticeTeachingUnderstandingDevelopmentPurposeConditionsEconomicEndsLibertyUseChoicesPhilosophyStoriesAbleActionAmericaAspectBasesViewsAsksCertainEssentialsFundamental Rightsmore

Fundamentals Quotes

“I call George W. Bush a radical because he is undertaking a fundamental transformation of our Constitutional system of government and of our longstanding policies that have been accepted for literally generations. He thinks to concentrate unaccountable power in the Executive. He thinks you alter the laws so that, as Commander in Chief, he can determine, under what he says are wartime conditions, what the laws are, which laws should be enforced, and declare by fiat what our policy should be, even abrogating longstanding international treaties.”

ThinkingShouldHas BeensGovernmentLawGenerationsConditionsPolicyTransformationFundamentalsInternationalDetermineAcceptedChiefsRadicalExecutivesCommandersTreatiesUndertakingsCommander In ChiefWartimeSystems Of Government
Author:Sidney Blumenthal
Create image

“One thing that concerns me is that today's young women don't seem to care that we have a fundamental instrument of government that makes no express statement about the equal citizenship stature of men and women. They know there are no closed doors anymore, and they may take for granted the rights that they have.”

KnowsMenMaySeemsGovernmentCareTodayYoungRightsDoorsOne ThingEqualMen And WomenConcernFundamentalsInstrumentsStatementsGrantedYoung WomenCitizenshipStatureClosed Doors
Author:Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Create image

“Despite two decisions, in 2008 and 2010, by the U.S. Supreme Court unequivocally affirming that the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms against infringement by the government, state legislatures continue to do just that - enact laws that significantly infringe this fundamental human right.”

HumansTwoStatesGovernmentLawIndividualDecisionArmsBearsConstitutionFundamentalsCourtSupremeDespiteGuaranteesAmendmentsSupreme CourtLegislatureSecond AmendmentAffirmingState LegislaturesInfringement
Author:Bob Barr
Create image

“I think that if we get back to some basic fundamental principles, we can make sure that we resolve the issues. And I think that that's what the Tea Party was all about. It's getting back to a constitutional conservative government. And that is limited, but it's also effective and efficient. I think that that's what we'll be able to do.”

IfsThinkingGovernmentAblePartyPrinciplesIssuesFundamentalsConservativeTeaResolveGet BackEfficientTea PartyFundamental Principles
Author:Allen West
Create image

“Accuse American businessmen of being responsible for radicalism and they would indignantly deny the accusation. Yet, in one fundamental sense, they are responsible. They are responsible in the sense that they have utterly neglected to take part in the work and the organization which precede the choosing of candidates for political office. Local political organizations all over the land are conducted and controlled, as a rule, by politicians.... Businessmen have shirked such responsibilities, leaving an untrammeled field to others less capable of carrying on the administration of government.”

GovernmentPoliticalPoliticsResponsibilityLandFieldsPoliticianOfficeCapableOrganizationResponsibleFundamentalsLeavingDenyLocalsAdministrationCandidatesControlledBusinessmanNeglectedBeing ResponsibleAccusationCarrying OnRadicalism
Author:B. C. Forbes
Create image

“Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”

PeopleMenStatesGovernmentPoliticalPoliticsJusticeFreedomForgetLibertyMoralPrinciplesVirtueCitizensBlessingConscienceFundamentalsChainsFirmTyrantsModeration4th Of JulyGoverningTemperanceBad ManFrugalityGood CitizenFree GovernmentFundamental PrinciplesFrugalAdherenceAmerican LibertyIncompatibilityNigeria IndependenceRecurrenceCorrupt Society
Author:Patrick Henry
Create image

“When more of the people's sustenance is exacted through the form of taxation than is necessary to meet the just obligations of government and expenses of its economical administration, such exaction becomes ruthless extortion and a violation of the fundamental principles of free government.”

PeopleGovernmentFormLibertyPrinciplesTaxesFundamentalsLibertarianObligationAdministrationPatrioticExpensesTaxationViolationRuthlessFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyProperty RightsSustenanceFree GovernmentFundamental PrinciplesExtortion
Author:Grover Cleveland
Create image

“It is true that the welfare-statists are not socialists, that they never advocated or intended the socialization of private property, that they want to 'preserve' private property-with government control of its use and disposal. But that is the fundamental characteristic of fascism.”

WantUseGovernmentLibertyEconomicEconomicsFundamentalsPropertyPreservesWelfareCharacteristicsFascismPrivate PropertySocialization
Book:Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal
Create image

“I have ever deemed it fundamental for the United States never to take active part in the quarrels of Europe. Their political interests are entirely distinct from ours. Their mutual jealousies, their balance of power, their complicated alliances, their forms and principles of government, are all foreign to us. They are nations of eternal war.”

WarStatesGovernmentFormPoliticalNationsInterestUnitedLibertyPrinciplesUnited StatesBalanceEternalEuropeFundamentalsComplicatedActiveLibertarianMutualLibertarianismQuarrelsAlliancesBalance Of Power
Book:Memoirs, 4: Correspondence and Private Papers
Create image

“Liberals love to say things like, "We're just asking everyone to pay their fair share." But government is not about asking. It is about telling. The difference is fundamental. It is the difference between making love and being raped, between working for a living and being a slave. The Internal Revenue service is not asking anybody to do anything. It confiscates your assets and puts you behind bars if you don't pay.”

IfsGovernmentDifferencesPayBehindsLibertyShareTaxesFairsAskingFundamentalsSlaveConservativeLibertarianBarsAfrican AmericanInternalsAssetsLibertarianismMaking LoveRevenueImprisonmentFair ShareWorking For A LivingAnti Liberal
Book:Barbarians Inside the Gates--and Other Controversial Essays
Create image

“It will be remembered, that a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is solemnly enjoined by most of the state constitutions, and particularly by our own, as a necessary safeguard against the danger of degeneracy, to which republics are liable, as well as other governments, though in a less degree than others.”

WellsStatesGovernmentEducationPrinciplesDangerDegreesConstitutionFundamentalsRememberedRepublicLiableFundamental PrinciplesRecurrence
Book:The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution: As Recommended by the General Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. Together with the Journal of the Federal Convention, Luther Martin's Letter, Yates's Minutes, Congressional Opinions, Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of '98-'99, and Other Illustrations of the Constitution
Create image

“Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that a more compelling American tradition forbids criticism of the government when the nation is at war... Nothing can be more destructive of our fundamental democratic traditions than the vicious effort to silence dissenters.”

WarGovernmentReligionNationsEffortSilenceAtheismSpeechTraditionCriticismFundamentalsDemocraticDestructiveFree SpeechCompellingViciousAmerican Tradition
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
Create image

“If cruelty is no longer declared unlawful, but instead is applied as a matter of policy, it alters the fundamental relationship of man to government. It destroys the whole notion of individual rights. The Constitution recognizes that man has an inherent right, not bestowed by the state or laws, to personal dignity, including the right to be free of cruelty. It applies to all human beings, not just in America - even those designated as ‘unlawful enemy combatants.’ If you make this exception, the whole Constitution crumbles.”

IfsMenHumansMatterStatesWholeGovernmentAmericaLawIndividualHuman BeingsEnemyRightsPolicyDignityConstitutionFundamentalsNotionIncludingTerrorismCrueltyTortureExceptionInherentIndividual RightsUnlawfulPersonal Dignity
Author:Alberto J. Mora
Create image

“Those who won our independence believed that the final end of the state was to make men free to develop their faculties... They valued liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty... that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government.”

MenShouldMeanEndsStatesGovernmentPoliticalSecretLibertyPrinciplesDemocracyDutyIndependenceFundamentalsCourtFinalsDiscussionFacultyAmendmentsFree SpeechFreedom Of SpeechFirst AmendmentAmerican GovernmentFundamental PrinciplesLiberty And JusticeLiberty Of Speech
Author:Louis D. Brandeis
Create image

“It is a wise rule and should be fundamental in a government disposed to cherish its credit, and at the same time to restrain the use of it within the limits of its faculties, "never to borrow a dollar without laying a tax in the same instant for paying the interest annually, and the principal within a given term; and to consider that tax as pledged to the creditors on the public faith."”

ShouldUseGovernmentGivenTermInterestWiseLimitsTaxesFundamentalsDollarsCreditBudgetsInstantFacultyCherishPrincipalNational DebtCreditorsDebt By Founding Fathers
Book:Memoirs, Correspondence and Private Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Late President of the United States
Create image

“The definition of the right of suffrage is very justly regarded as a fundamental article of republican government.”

GovernmentRightsRepublicanFundamentalsDefinitionsArticlesSuffrageRepublican Government
Book:The Federalist, on the new constitution, written in 1788, with an appendix, containing the letters of Pacificus and Helvidius on the proclamation of neutrality of 1793, also the original articles of confederation and the constitution of the United States
Create image

“Wise politicians will be cautious about fettering the government with restrictions that cannot be observed, because they know that every break of the fundamental laws, though dictated by necessity, impairs that sacred reverence which ought to be maintained in the breast of rulers towards the constitution of a country.”

KnowsCountryGovernmentLawBreakWiseOughtPoliticianConstitutionFundamentalsSacredBreastsReverenceRulersRestrictionCautiousBe Cautious
Author:Alexander Hamilton
Create image

“The first question that offers itself is, whether the general form and aspect of the government be strictly republican? It is evident that no other form would be reconcileable with the genius of the people of America; with the fundamental principles of the revolution; or with that honourable determination which animates every votary of freedom, to rest all our political experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government.”

PeopleFirstsSelfGovernmentWould BeAmericaFormPoliticalPrinciplesMankindRevolutionGeniusRepublicanOffersCapacityAspectDeterminationFundamentalsExperimentsEvidentSelf-governmentFundamental PrinciplesRepublican Government
Book:Selected Writings of James Madison
Create image

“It is one thing to be subordinate to the laws, and another [for the Executive] to be dependent on the legislative body. The first comports with, the last violates, the fundamental principles of good government; and, whatever may be the forms of the Constitution, unites all power in the same hands.”

FirstsMayBodyHandsGovernmentLastsFormLawPrinciplesOne ThingConstitutionFundamentalsSeparationDependentExecutivesSubordinatesFundamental PrinciplesSeparation Of Powers
Book:The Federalist on the New Constitution
Create image

“I am with the South in life or death, in victory or defeat. I believe the North is about to wage a brutal and unholy war on a people who have done them no wrong, in violation of the Constitution and the fundamental principles of government. They no longer acknowledge that all government derives its validity from the consent of the governed. They are about to invade our peaceful homes, destroy our property, and murder our men and dishonor our women. We propose no invasion of the North, no attack on them, and only ask to be left alone.”

PeopleMenBelieveWarDoneHomeGovernmentAsksLeftI BelievePrinciplesVictoryConstitutionMurderFundamentalsPropertySouthDefeatPeacefulAcknowledgeBrutalConsentInvasionViolationProposeLeft AloneValidityDishonorFundamental PrinciplesLife Or DeathConsent Of The GovernedPeaceful Home
Author:Patrick Cleburne
Create image

“I consider it…as subverting the fundamental and characteristic principle of the Government…and as bidding defiance to the sense in which the Constitution is known to have been proposed, advocated, and adopted. If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one.”

IfsHas BeensDoneGovernmentCan DoKnownPrinciplesConstitutionFundamentalsCongressWelfareCharacteristicsAdoptedDefianceDiscretionBiddingGeneral Welfare
Book:1769-1793
Create image

“We are for aiding our allies by sharing of our material blessings with those nations which share in our fundamental beliefs, but we're against doling out money government to government, creating bureaucracy, if not socialism, all over the world. We set out to help 19 countries. We're helping 107. We've spent 146 billion dollars. With that money, we bought a 2 million dollar yacht for Haile Selassie. We bought dress suits for Greek undertakers, extra wives for Kenya[n] government officials. We bought a thousand TV sets for a place where they have no electricity.”

IfsWorldCountryHelpingGovernmentBeliefNationsMoneyMillionsWifeShareMaterialsTvsBlessingThousandCreatingDressesFundamentalsDollarsAidsBillionsSocialismSuitsGreekOfficialsExtrasAlliesElectricityBureaucracyAssistanceRebelliousMillion DollarsKenyaYachtUndertakerGovernment Officials
Author:Ronald Reagan
Create image

“It is equally clear that a government must govern, must prescribe and enforce laws within its sphere or cease to be a government. Moreover, the individual must be independent and free within his own sphere or cease to be an individual. The fundamental question was then, is now, and always will be through what adjustments, by what actions, these principles may be applied.”

MayGovernmentActionLawIndividualPrinciplesIndependentFundamentalsCeaseSpheresAdjustment
Author:Calvin Coolidge
Create image

“Native Americans are the original inhabitants of the land that now constitutes the United States. They have helped develop the fundamental principles of freedom of speech and separation of powers that form the foundation of the United States Government.”

StatesGovernmentFormUnitedPrinciplesUnited StatesLandSpeechOriginalsFoundationFundamentalsSeparationNativeNative AmericanFreedom Of SpeechState GovernmentFundamental PrinciplesUnited States GovernmentSeparation Of Powers
Author:Joe Baca
Create image

“If the layman cannot participate in decision making, he will have to turn himself over, essentially blind, to a hermetic elite. ... [The fundamental question becomes] are we still capable of self-government and therefore freedom? Margaret Mead wrote in a 1959 issue of Daedalus about scientists elevated to the status of priests. Now there is a name for this elevation, when you are in the hands of-one hopes-a benevolent elite, when you have no control over your political decisions. From the point of view of John Locke, the name for this is slavery.”

IfsStillsSelfHandsGovernmentPoliticalTurnsNamesFreedomDecisionViewsIssuesCapableScientistFundamentalsSlaveryBlindPoint Of ViewDecision MakingPriestsOver YouElitesBenevolentElevationSelf-governmentLaymanMeadPolitical DecisionsDaedalus
Author:Gerald Holton
Create image

“All of the government's monetary, economic and political power, as well as its extensive propaganda machinery, will be enlisted in a constant battle to drive down the price of gold - but in the absence of any fundamental change in the nation's monetary, fiscal, and economic direction, simply regard any major retreat in the price of gold as an unexpected buying opportunity.”

WellsGovernmentPoliticalOpportunityNationsEconomicBattleMajorsGoldRegardFundamentalsConstantAbsencePropagandaBuyingUnexpectedRetreatMachineryMonetaryPolitical PowerEnlistedBuying Gold
Author:Irwin Schiff
Create image

“We must recognize the full human equality of all our people - before God, before the law, and in the councils of government. We must do this not because it is economically advantageous - although it is; not because the laws of God and man command it - although they do command it; not because people in other lands wish it so. We must do it for the single and fundamental reason that it is the right thing to do.”

PeopleMenHumansReasonGovernmentLawWishLandFundamentalsCommandThings To DoRight ThingCouncilHuman Equality
Book:The Quotable Robert F. Kennedy
Create image