Happy 4th!

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government. ~ Patrick Henry

We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self-government ~ James Madison

A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicity. ~ Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address

Posterity, you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that ever I took half the pains to preserve it. ~ John Adams