Patrick Henry

It is the very genius of a consolidated Government to elevate one portion of the Community, while it corrupts the other. –Calhoun

Generally, however, the secession movement was a remarkable testament to the compact theory of government, which Jefferson, more than anyone, had fixed upon the American political mind. –Merrill D. Petersen

Never ascribe to malice what can be adequately explained by incompetence. –Napoleon

“Hell” ain’t cussing, it’s geography. –Harry Carey, Jr., in Wagon Master

We are living on the margin because there is no longer any center. –Octavio Paz

It is sobering to think that only the Republican Party and talk radio appear to stand between the Obama administration and its agenda. –Chilton Williamson

All young people have to make the trip over fool’s hill. –Ferrol Sams

We are descended from a people whose government was founded on liberty; our glorious grandfathers of Great Britain made liberty the foundation of everything . . . . We draw that spirit of liberty from our British ancestors. –Patrick Henry

The last Western statesman died a century ago, while our public men today are noteworthy solely for their unembarrassed corruption. . . . Intellectually and philosophically not one of them aspires to anything as lofty as mediocrity. –Franklin Sanders

With what pretence of fairness, it is said, can you Americans object to the secession of the Southern States when your nation was founded on secession from the British Empire? —Cornhill Magazine, London, 1861

Politics is not about doing good, as many foolish Americans believe. It is about vanity, greed, and lust. –Clyde Wilson

Do not go gently into that good night. Rage, rage, against the dying of the light. –Dylan Thomas


Clyde Wilson

Clyde Wilson is a distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at the University of South Carolina where he was the editor of the multivolume The Papers of John C. Calhoun. He is the M.E. Bradford Distinguished Chair at the Abbeville Institute. He is the author or editor of over thirty books and published over 600 articles, essays and reviews and is co-publisher of www.shotwellpublishing.com, a source  for unreconstructed Southern books.

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