Joel Barlow Quotations

It is because the people are citizens that they are with safety armed.

A habitual disuse of physical forces totally destroys the moral; and men lose at once the power of protecting themselves, and of discerning the cause of their oppression.

I sing the sweets I know, the charms I feel, my morning incense, and my evening meal, the sweets of hasty pudding.

There are many advantages in their being accustomed to the use of arms, and no possible disadvantage.

How could you fear a dearth? Have not mankind tho' slain by millions, millions left behind?

[The disarming of citizens] has a double effect, it palsies the hand and brutalizes the mind: a habitual disuse of physical forces totally destroys the moral [force]; and men lose at once the power of protecting themselves, and of discerning the cause of their oppression.

The fine arts, both in those who cultivate and those only who admire them, open and expand the mind to great ideas. They inspire liberal feelings, create a harmony of temper, favorable to a sense of justice and a habit of moderation in our social intercourse.

In raising a people from slavery to freedom, you have called them to act on a new theatre; and it is a necessary part of your business, to teach them how to perform their parts.

He who thinks to save anything by his religion, besides his soul, will be a loser in the end.

The danger (where there is any) from armed citizens, is only to the *government*, not to *society*; and as long as they have nothing to revenge in the government (which they cannot have while it is in their own hands) there are many advantages in their being accustomed to the use of arms, and no possible disadvantage.