“Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak, and that it is doing God’s service when it is violating all His laws.”
—John Quincy Adams
“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s, but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition, and ignorance on the other.”
—Ulysses S. Grant
Louisiana Voice 
When will we ever learn….before it is too late?
Proof the thoughts of great minds never lose relevance and should always be remembered. Many brain-to-mouth thoughts today need to be forgotten as soon as possible.
Or never said at all since they are mostly incorrect, misleading, and create confusion.
“Trump is a sales guy and it’s all about point of sale. It’s not about repeat customers and follow ups. He wants to get the sale — that’s it — he wants to sell you the undercoating for your car, and it’s not his problem if the car breaks driving off of the lot.” – Stuart Stevens, longtime Republican operative as quoted in The Washington Post
Two excellent quotes.
The irony is we all see the other “side” in those quotes, assuming it is ourselves who are intelligent, patriotic and on the “right” side.
John Q Adams was a smart man, but his personality got in the way of political success as he was a one term President, and probably never should have been placed in office (was actually elected by House of Rep). He was much like Andrew Hamilton, smart, supporter of strong centralized government as opposed to strong state government (the very premise of our republic). His father was an opponent of Thomas Jefferson, probably our most brilliant President (my opinion of course).
U S Grant presided over one of the most corrupt Presidential administrations. I have always been amused when I hear people state the “Civil War” was fought over slavery when the best general the United States had to offer was Grant, a drunk, and a slave owner (who did not free his slaves until the 13th amendment was passed and he had to). He was NOT fighting to free slaves. I wish I knew the context of the Grant quote.
Ms. Zoe, the Grant quote is from a larger speech he made to Civil War Veterans in 1875. The words he spoke before this quote were: “Where the citizen is sovereign and the official the servant, where no power is exercised except by the will of the people, it is important that the sovereign — the people — should possess intelligence.
The free school is the promoter of that intelligence which is to preserve us as a free nation.”
Thanks. The speech makes sense, and I agree as I strongly am opposed to federal control of our education system. We are raising robots.
My favorite U S Grant quotes:
Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church, and the private school, supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate. Ulysses S. Grant
I would suggest the taxation of all property equally, whether church or corporation, exempting only the last resting place of the dead and possibly, with proper restrictions, church edifices. Ulysses S. Grant
It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training. Ulysses S. Grant
No corruption votes for Harding, Nixon or Trump?
Grant wasn’t corrupt, per se. He unwisely appointed a number of people who were, however, and of course it reflected on him because the corruption occurred on his watch. Harding, Nixon and Trump were/are corrupt in their own right.
And give Grant some credit; he did sign the KKK Act, passed to counter terrorism against blacks in the South and he signed the law giving blacks the right to vote. Not too shabby. And he favored a government that gave autonomy to the states, which I believe you also favor.
And no, he didn’t fight the civil war to free the slaves; he fought it to preserve the union.
I did not say he was corrupt nor did I say he had the only corrupt administration. And yes, I believe the states should be stronger and the federal govt less so. We are now the inverse of the basis of our republic. There was a reason the colonies were named “states”.
You forgot Clinton and Obama when you listed Harding, Nixon, and Trumpas corrupt administrations..
The American war between the states was, like all wars fought over economics (religion being the other main cause of war). Preservation of the union was an excuse to maintain control of the money the south produced (which largely funded the government). To lose the south was to bankrupt the northern states.