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I ask you sir, who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people.

George Mason

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George Mason
Age: 66 †
Born: 1725
Born: December 11
Died: 1792
Died: October 7
Lawyer
Politician
Slaveholder
Statesman
Fairfax
Virginia
George Mason IV
Consist
Amendments
Gun
Arms
Asks
Whole
People
Militia

More quotes by George Mason

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A well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
George Mason
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To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them.
George Mason
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Considering the natural lust for power so inherent in man, I fear the thirst of power will prevail to oppress the people.
George Mason
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All men are created equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing the obtaining of happiness and safety.
George Mason
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I thank God, I have been able, by adopting Principles of strict Economy and Frugality, to keep my principal, I mean my Country-Estate, unimpaired.
George Mason
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No point is of more importance than that the right of impeachment should be continued. Shall any man be above Justice?
George Mason
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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
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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
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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
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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
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I determined to spend the Remainder of my Days in privacy and Retirement with my Children, from whose Society alone I cou'd expect Comfort.
George Mason
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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
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I charge [my sons] never to let the motives of private interest or ambition to influence them to betray, nor the terrors of poverty and disgrace, or the fear of danger or of death deter them from asserting the liberty of their country, and endeavoring to transmit to their posterity those sacred rights to which themselves were born
George Mason
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Slavery discourages arts and manufactures.
George Mason
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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
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The question then will be, whether a consolidated government can preserve the freedom and secure the rights of the people.
George Mason
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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
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I retired from public Business from a thorough Conviction that it was not in my Power to do any Good, and very much disgusted with Measures, which appeared to me inconsistent with common Policy and Justice.
George Mason
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Don't wait around for your life to happen to you. Find something that makes you happy, and do it. Because everything else is all just background noise.
George Mason
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Happiness and Prosperity are now within our Reach but to attain and preserve them must depend upon our own Wisdom and Virtue.
George Mason