A pioneer creates a new country from foresight, courage, and hard work. An immigrant takes advantage of what the pioneer has created. I suppose now we really are “a nation of immigrants.”–Clyde Wilson
The prejudice of race appears to be stronger in the States that have abolished slavery than in those where it still exists . . . .–Alexis de Tocqueville
Why are we so greatly affected by statements that we know are not true? —e.g., In Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech. –H.L. Mencken
Most of the world regards Southern accented English as a sign of a superior person. Yankees pretend to believe it is a mark of ignorance, but their pretense in this, as in many other matters, is a cover-up for jealousy. The poet Robert Lowell, a very Boston Brahmin of the Boston Brahmins, went to Tennessee as a young man and lived in a tent in Allen Tate’s and Caroline Gordon’s yard. For the rest of his life he spoke with a Southern accent. You can hear it in the videos of his anti-Vietnam speeches.–Clyde Wilson
Political scientists and historians are in agreement that federalism is the greatest contribution of the founding fathers to the science of government. It is also the only feature of the Constitution that has been successfully exported, that can be employed to protect liberty elsewhere in the world. Yet what we invented, and others imitate, no longer exists on its native shore.–Forrest McDonald
A revolutionary situation occurs when confidence in the justice or reasonableness of existing authority is undermined; when old loyalties fade, obligations are felt as impositions, laws seem arbitrary . . . . Something must happen if continuing deterioration is to be avoided; some new basis of community must be formed.–R.R. Palmer
Their devotion is wonderful. Men of immense estates of 30 to 40 thousand dollars have given up all and now serve as common soldiers in the ranks. Why cannot we inspire our people with the same ardor?–Gen. William T. Sherman on the Confederate army
General Grant has so far given no proof of being a great strategist. It appears that he undertakes no maneuvers , and that simply drives his masses of men against the fortified positions of Lee trying to crush him by sheer superiority of numbers.–Baron Steockel, Russian Minister to the U.S., 1864
If the vote were free, the chances would be certainly in favour of General McClellan, but with the powers which the government possesses, it will find the means of controlling the election.–Baron Stoekel, 1864
I believe that the American South, the last bastion of Christianity in the West, will have a special role in the final chapter of history.–Anne Wilson Smith
