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Safe Defense of a Free State
“That the People have a right to keep and bear Arms; that a well regulated Militia, composed of the Body of the People, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe Defence of a free state.”
– George Mason
*Hempstead Rifles, a volunteer militia company from Arkansas, 1861 (source)
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Fathers As Role Models
“Being a role model is the most powerful form of educating. . .too often fathers neglect it because they get so caught up in making a living they forget to make a life.”
– John Wooden,
from Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court -
An Unqualified Blessing
“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government. Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth can not be produced by human institutions. In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society — the farmers, mechanics, and laborers — who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their government. There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, as Heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it would be an unqualified blessing.”
– Andrew Jackson,
excerpt from his message regarding the Bank of the United States, 1832*Engraved portrait (source)
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Flag Day 2021
“One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One Nation evermore!”
– Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
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Self-Governance
“If men will not be governed by the Ten Commandments, they shall be governed by the 10,000 Commandments.”
– G. K. Chesterton
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Death of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan
February 6th, 1911 – June 5th, 2004“In closing let me thank you, the American people for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.
I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.
Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.”
– Excerpt from Reagan’s letter announcing his Alzheimer’s disease
*Official portrait of President Reagan (source);
Reagan’s grave, Reagan Presidential Library (copyright A Home and a Country) -
Memorial Day 2021
Oh! You who sleep in “Flanders Fields,”
Sleep sweet – to rise anew!
We caught the Torch you threw
And, holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We’ll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.– “We Shall Keep the Faith”
Moina Michael, 1918
Learn more about “The Poppy Lady,” her poem, and how she helped support soldiers who served in World War I.
*Photo source;
Moina Michael memorial stamp (source)*A Home and a Country is a private blog and is not affiliated with any particular institution or organization.
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Self-Education
“It is important to build an intellectual base for your goals. Formal education is fine. Self-education is vital.”
– Paul Harvey,
as quoted in Paul Harvey’s America (Mansfield/Holland) -
A Good Citizen
“The first requisite of a good citizen in this Republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight; that he shall not be a mere passenger, but shall do his share in the work that each generation of us finds ready to hand; and, furthermore, that in doing his work he shall show, not only the capacity for sturdy self-help, but also self-respecting regard for the rights of others.”
– Theodore Roosevelt,
excerpt from his “Speech at New York,” 1902*Col. Theodore Roosevelt and his “Rough Riders” on San Juan Hill, July 1898 (source)
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Contentment
“To be content, look backward on those who possess less than yourself, not forward on those who possess more. If this does not make you content, you don’t deserve to be happy.”
– Benjamin Franklin
