Friday, May 25, 2007

The first is a patron, the last a punisher


"Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.

Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer."

I am starting a book tonight called The Glorious Cause by Jeff Shaara, a novel of the American Revolution. Shaara is one of my favorite authors these days and this seems like a perfect way to kick off Memorial Day weekend.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

..a little lite reading i see...
-ed

Unknown said...

The books are actually light...well written fiction with a ton of facts to back them up. Much more of a story than a history book actually.