A two-edged sword....

No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders.
- Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, November 4, 1775

********************************************************************************

And another oldie but goodie.....

Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.
- Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833

*********************************************************************************

The American war is over; but this far from being the case with the American revolution. On the contrary, nothing but the first act of the drama is closed. It remains yet to establish and perfect our new forms of government, and to prepare the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens for these forms of government after they are established and brought to perfection.
- Benjamin Rush, letter to Price, May 25, 1786

**********************************************************************************

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Patrick Henry, speech in the Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775

**********************************************************************************

The constitution of the United States is to receive a reasonable interpretation of its language, and its powers, keeping in view the objects and purposes, for which those powers were conferred. By a reasonable interpretation, we mean, that in case the words are susceptible of two different senses, the one strict, the other more enlarged, that should be adopted, which is most consonant with the apparent objects and intent of the Constitution.
Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833