Thomas Jefferson

A little long for posterboard:

"To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father's has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association--the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his
industry and the fruits acquired by it." -- Note in Tracy's "Political Economy," 1816.


"With all [our] blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens--a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities." -- 1st Inaugural Address

If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy." -- letter to Thomas Cooper, 1802