A public debt is a public curse.

The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.

Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace.

Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant.

If our nation is ever taken over, it will be taken over from within.

The purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the majority's ability to harm a minority.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

If man is not fit to govern himself, how can he be fit to govern someone else?

The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the State governments, in times of peace and security.

Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

Line of control should be a garden, a place of art and cultural festival.

It cost nothing to be nice.

Fear God, and your enemies will fear you.

You look so polished from your hair down to your toes, but still your finger's gonna pick your nose.

A true musician, like Johnny Cash, should be able to walk into a room with nothing but an instrument and capture people's attention for two hours.

Having reached a point in which I was so bitter and exhausted from being a quote unquote public figure, I wanted to return to a more childlike relationship to writing.

One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz.

But in those days - in the mid-'50s, early '60s - there was less than 300 radio stations that were playing country music and a lot of that wasn't full time.

Never miss a political meeting if you think there's the slightest chance you'll wish you'd been there.

The whole idea of comparing climbers is ludicrous. It would be like sitting Van Gogh down with Rembrandt and saying, Ready, get set, go.