Quote#Freedom
That the people have a Right to mass and to bear arms; that a…
Quote byGeorge Mason · 1725–1792
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Draft proposal, 3 Elliot, Debates at 659.
English (original)
That the people have a Right to mass and to bear arms; that 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, are dangerous to liberty, and therefore ought to be avoided.
— George Mason
More from George Mason
We owe to our Mother-Country the Duty of Subjects but will not pay her the Submission of Slaves.
I determined to spend the Remainder of my Days in privacy and Retirement with my Children, from whose Society alone I could expect Comfort.
There is a Passion natural to the Mind of man, especially a free Man, which renders him impatient of Restraint.
Our All is at Stake, and the little Conveniences and Comforts of Life, when set in Competition with our Liberty, ought to be rejected not with Reluctance but with Pleasure.
The same causes will generally produce the same effects; and it requires no great degree of penetration to foretell that what has happened may happen again.
This cold weather has set all the young Folks to providing Bedfellows. I have signed two or three Licences every Day [as a Fairfax Justice of the Peace] since I have been at Home. I wish I knew where to get a good one myself; for I find …