Quote

Every society, all government, and every kind of civil compact therefore, is or ought to be, calculated for the general good and safety of the community.

George Mason

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

George Mason
Age: 66 †
Born: 1725
Born: December 11
Died: 1792
Died: October 7
Lawyer
Politician
Slaveholder
Statesman
Fairfax
Virginia
George Mason IV
Government
Calculated
Every
Civil
Kind
Safety
Good
General
Therefore
Ought
Community
Society
Compact

More quotes by George Mason

Image
Every selfish motive therefore, every family attachment, ought to recommend such a system of policy as would provide no less carefully for the rights and happiness of the lowest than of the highest orders of Citizens.
George Mason
Image
That all power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by any authority, without consent of the representatives of the people, is injurious to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.
George Mason
Image
No point is of more importance than that the right of impeachment should be continued. Shall any man be above Justice?
George Mason
Image
All power is lodged in, and consequently derived from, the people. We should wear it as a breastplate, and buckle it on as our armour.
George Mason
Image
That general warrants, whereby an officer or messenger may be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of a fact committed, or to seize any person or persons not named, or whose offence is not particularly described and supported by evidence, are grievous and oppressive, and ought not to be granted.
George Mason
Image
I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people except for a few public officials.
George Mason
Image
I begin to grow heartily tired of the etiquette and nonsense so fashionable in this city.
George Mason
Image
I give and bequeath my soul to Almighty God that gave it me, hoping that through the meritorious death and passion of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ to receive absolution and remission for all my sins.
George Mason
Image
We are now to rank among the nations of the world but whether our Independence shall prove a blessing or a curse must depend upon our own wisdom or folly, virtue or wickedness.... Justice and virtue are the vital principles of republican government.
George Mason
Image
Is it to be expected that the Southern States will deliver themselves bound hand and foot to the Eastern States? A few rich merchants in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York could thereby monopolise the staples of the Southern States and reduce their value.
George Mason
Image
Attend with Diligence and strict Integrity to the Interest of your Correspondents and enter into no Engagements which you have not the almost certain Means of performing.
George Mason
Image
We came equals into this world, and equals shall we go out of it.
George Mason
Image
Slavery discourages arts and manufacturing ...[and] every master of slaves is born a petty tyrant.
George Mason
Image
As much as I value an union of all the states, I would not admit the southern states into the union, unless they agreed to the discontinuance of this disgraceful trade, because it would bring weakness and not strength to the union.
George Mason
Image
The laws of nature are the laws of God, whose authority can be superseded by no power on earth.
George Mason
Image
To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.
George Mason
Image
The question then will be, whether a consolidated government can preserve the freedom and secure the rights of the people.
George Mason
Image
A few years' experience will convince us that those things which at the time they happened we regarded as our greatest misfortunes have proved our greatest blessings.
George Mason
Image
The poor despise labor when performed by slaves.
George Mason
Image
Who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers. But I cannot say who will be the militia of the future day. If that paper on the table [the Constitution] gets no alteration, the militia of the future day may not consist of all classes, high and low, and rich and poor.
George Mason