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February 2010

Winston Churchill
We are with Europe but not of it. We are linked, not combined. We are interested and associated, not absorbed. And should European statesmen address us in the words that were used of old -- Shall I speak for thee to the King or the Captain of the Host? -- we should reply with the Shunamite woman: "Nay sir, for we dwell among our own people".
Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874 – 1965) was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, historian, writer, and artist. He was the only British Prime Minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature and the first person to be recognised as an Honorary Citizen of the United States.

More information on Winston Churchill on www.wikipedia.org.

January 2010

Charles Murray
It was the transmutation of the classical liberal intellectual foundation by Christianity that gave modern Europe its impetus and that pushed European accomplishment so far ahead of all other cultures and civilizations around the world.
Charles Murray (1943- ) is an American libertarian political scientist, author and columnist, currently working at the American Enterprise Institute. He is best known for his controversial book "The Bell Curve", co-authored with the late Richard Herrnstein in 1994, which discusses the role of IQ in American society. Charles Murray holds an honorary doctorate from Francisco Marroquin University in Guatemala.

More information on Charles Murray on www.wikipedia.org.

December 2009

Patrick Henry
Give me liberty, or give me death! Death is not the worst of all evils.
Patrick Henry (1736 – 1799) served as Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779. A Founding Father, along with Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, he is remembered as one of the most influential advocates of the American Revolution and republicanism, especially in his denunciations of corruption in government, his defense of historic rights and his opposition against Hamiltonian Federalism.

More information on Patrick Henry on www.wikipedia.org.

November 2009

Thomas Sowell
Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.
Thomas Sowell (1930 - ) is an American libertarian conservative, economist, social commentator, and author. He often writes from an economically laissez-faire perspective and is currently a senior fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

More information on Thomas Sowell on www.wikipedia.org.

October 2009

Vladimir Bukowsky
Europe, I have lived in your future, and I did not like it...
Vladimir Konstantinovich Bukowsky (1942- ) is a notable former Soviet political dissident, author and political activist. Bukowsky was one of the first to expose the use of psychiatric imprisonment against political prisoners in the Soviet Union. He spent twelve years in Soviet gulags and now resides in Cambridge, England.

More information on Vladimir Bukowsky on www.wikipedia.org.

September 2009

Horatius
Disce quasi semper victurus. Vive quasi cras moriturus!
Or translated into English.
Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow!
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65BC - 8BC) was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus. Horace is generally considered by classicists to be one of the greatest Latin poets and is known for having coined many Latin phrases that remain in use today.

More information on Horace on www.wikipedia.org.

August 2009

John Ashcroft
Only God, no other kings!
John Ashcroft (1942- ) is an American politician who was the 79th U.S. Attorney General. He served under President George W. Bush and was previously elected Governor and Senator in Missouri.

More information on John Ashcroft on www.wikipedia.org.

July 2009

Marc Cogen
Good fences make good friends!
Marc Cogen (1963- ) is a Belgian neoconservative, a barrister and an international law professor at Ghent University. His publications include international and European financial law, general international law and international security. He also lectured at the Free Universities of Brussels and Amsterdam, and was a senior adviser to the Belgian Foreign Ministry for many years.

More information on Marc Cogen on www.ieru.ugent.be.

June 2009

Henry Adams
The press is the hired agent of a monied system, and set up for no other purpose than to tell lies where their interests are involved. One can trust nobody and nothing.
Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918) was an American novelist, journalist, historian and academic. He is best-known for his Pulitzer Prize winning autobiographical book, The Education of Henry Adams. He was a member of the renowned Adams political family and a notorious critic of political corruption.

More information on Henry Adams on www.wikipedia.org.

May 2009

Roger Helmer
It's time to recognize that the EU is beyond reform and deserves to be put out of its misery.
Roger Helmer (1944- ) is a British politician and a Conservative Party Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands region. A libertarian Eurosceptic, he is a supporter of the Better Off Out campaign and the Honorary Chairman of the Freedom Association. A die-hard Atlanticist, he has developed close relationships with conservative political groups in the USA, and has been a regular speaker at American conferences. He was also appointed Adam Smith Scholar by the American Legislative Exchange Council. He has published two books on European issues, "Straight Talking on Europe" in 2000, and "A Declaration of Independence" in 2002.

More information on Roger Helmer on www.wikipedia.org.

April 2009

Frédéric Bastiat
L’Etat c'est la grande fiction par laquelle tout le monde s'efforce de vivre aux dépens de tous les autres.
Or translated into English.
The state is this great fictitious entity by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else.
Claude Frédéric Bastiat (1801–1850) was a French classical liberal theorist, political economist, and member of the French assembly. He was the author of many works on economics, containing many strongly-worded attacks on statist and protectionist policies. His two most renowned books were "The Law" and "Economic Sophisms".

More information on Frédéric Bastiat on www.wikipedia.org.

March 2009

Winston Churchill
Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.
Winston Churchill (1874–1965) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a Nobel Prize-winning writer, and an artist. Churchill was always noted for his speeches, which became a great inspiration to the British people and embattled Allied forces. Queen Elizabeth II offered to create him Duke of London, but this was declined due to the objections of his son Randolph, who would have inherited the title on his father's death. Upon his death the Queen granted him the honour of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.

More information on Winston Churchill on www.wikipedia.org.

February 2009

Edmund Burke
All that needs to be done for evil to prevail is good men doing nothing.
Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797) was an Irish statesman, author and political theorist who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. Burke is widely regarded as the philosophical founder of Anglo-American conservatism.

More information on Edmund Burke on www.wikipedia.org.

January 2009

Walter Williams
The Founders knew that a democracy would lead to some kind of tyranny. The term democracy appears in none of our Founding documents. Their vision for us was a Republic and limited government.
Walter Williams (1936- ) is an American economist and college professor at George Mason University. He is also a syndicated columnist and libertarian author. An outspoken opponent to gun control, affirmative action and the minimum wage, he was drafted by Bruce Tinsley for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

More information on Walter Williams on www.wikipedia.org.

December 2008

Kakha Bendukidze
Government is at best useless, and at worst counter-productive.
Kakha Bendukidze (1956- ) is a Georgian politician, a former Cabinet minister in charge of economic reforms and the current head of the State Chancellery. A self-made business mogul, oligarch and anarcho-capitalist, he became known as Georgia's Super Reformer.

More information on Kakha Bendukidze on www.wikipedia.org.

November 2008

Thomas Hodgskin
Man had better be without education than be educated by their rulers.
Thomas Hodgskin (1787-1869) was an english political economist, critic of capitalism, free-market anarchist and defender of free trade and early trade unions. He spent 15 years working for "The Economist" magazine, including several years as their editor-in-chief.

More information on Thomas Hodgskin on www.wikipedia.org.

October 2008

Margaret Thatcher
We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels.
Margaret Hilda Baroness Thatcher (1925- ) is a British politician, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She is the first and only woman to date to hold either post.

More information on Margaret Thatcher on www.wikipedia.org.

September 2008

Frank Karsten
Democratie betekent het verlies van vrijheid in ruil voor de illusie van invloed.
Or translated into English.
Democracy implies the loss of liberty in exchange for the illusion of influence.
Frank Karsten (1964 - ) is a Dutch libertarian entrepreneur and the president of the More Freedom Foundation.

More information on Frank Karsten on www.meervrijheid.nl.

August 2008

Thomas Sowell
When government takes away options, it is bound to make some people worse off, even with intrinsicallly good intentions behind that government intervention.
Thomas Sowell (1930- ) is an American economist, social commentator, and author of dozens of books. A Stanford scholar and a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution and the American Enterprise Institute, he writes from an economically laissez-faire perspective.

More information on Thomas Sowell on www.wikipedia.org.

July 2008

Mark Steyn
Europe by the end of this century will be a continent after the neutron bomb. The grand buildings will still be standing, but the people who built them will be gone.
Mark Steyn (1959- ) is a self-described conservative polemicist whose opinions on politics, arts and culture are published in newspapers, magazines and online. He appears regularly on politically radio shows in Canada and the United States, and has authored five books, including "America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It."

More information on Mark Steyn on www.wikipedia.org.

June 2008

Vincent De Roeck
Westerse waarden zijn superieur. De multicultuur is dan ook een nivellering naar beneden.
Or translated into English.
Westers values are superior. The multicultural society is hence a downward spiral.
Vincent De Roeck (1985 - ) is a libertarian blogger, the editor-in-chief of Blueprint magazine, the Vice-President of the Liberal Flemish Students Organisation and the secretary of the Mises Youth Club.

More information on Vincent De Roeck on www.libertarian.be.

May 2008

Noam Chomsky
Freedom without opportunity is a devil's gift.
Noam Chomsky (1928- ) is an American linguist, naturalistic philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer. He is an Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is credited with the creation of the theory of generative grammar and the cognitive revolution in psychology. Beginning with his critique of the Vietnam War in the 1960s, Chomsky has become more widely known for his media criticism and political activism, and for his criticism of the foreign policy of the United States and other governments.

More information on Noam Chomsky on www.wikipedia.org.

April 2008

Thomas Jefferson
Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) was President of the United States, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States.

More information on Thomas Jefferson on www.wikipedia.org.

March 2008

Daniel Hannan
Pactio Olisipiensis censenda est. The Treaty of Lisbon must be put to a vote.
Daniel Hannan (born 1 September 1971) is a British Conservative Member of the European Parliament for the South East of England.

More information on Daniel Hannan on www.wikipedia.org.

February 2008

Voltaire
Il est dangereux d'avoir raison quand le gouvernement a tort.
Or translated into English.
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
François-Marie Arouet Voltaire (1694 – 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, deist and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberties.

More information on Voltaire on www.wikipedia.org.

January 2008

Omar Khayyam
Referme ton Coran. Pense et regarde librement le Ciel et la Terre.
Or translated into English.
Close your Quran. Think free and look as a freed man to the Sky and the Earth.
Omar Khayyam (1048 – 1131) was a Persian poet, mathematician, philosopher, astronomer and Islam critic. Despite a strong Islamic training, he was undevout and had no sympathy with popular religion. He rejected the laws of Allah and supported the view that laws of nature explained all phenomena of observed life.

More information on Omar Khayyam on www.wikipedia.org.

December 2007

Bruce Schneier
Terrorists can only take my life. Only my government can take my freedom.
Bruce Schneier (born 15 January 1963) is an American cryptographer, computer security specialist, and writer. He is the author of several books on computer security and cryptography, and is the founder and chief technology officer of BT Counterpane.

More information on Bruce Schneier on www.wikipedia.org.

November 2007

Robert McCracken
We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls.
Robert McDowell McCracken (1874 - 1934) was a U.S. Representative from Idaho and served as a Republican from 1915 to 1917.

More information on Robert McCracken on www.wikipedia.org.

October 2007

Mahatma Gandhi
Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948) was a major political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of the resistance of tyranny through mass civil disobedience. He led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

More information on Mahatma Gandhi on www.wikipedia.org.

September 2007

Benjamin Franklin
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790) was one of the most important Founding Fathers of the United States. He was a leading author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat. As a scientist he was a major figure in the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity.

More information on Benjamin Franklin on www.wikipedia.org.

August 2007

Henri Poincaré
La pensée ne doit jamais se soumettre, ni à un dogme, ni à un parti, ni à une passion, ni à un intérêt, ni à une idée préconçue, ni à quoi que ce soit, si ce n'est aux faits eux-mêmes, parce que, pour elle, se soumettre, ce serait cesser d'être.
Or translated into English.
Reason must always depend on facts and must never be oppressed, not by a dogma, not by a political party, not by a passion, not by a special interest, not by a biased conviction, not by anything else, because any form of oppression makes reason disappear as a whole.
Jules Henri Poincaré (1854 – 1912) was one of France's greatest mathematicians and theoretical physicists, and a philosopher of science. Known as polymath and as the "Last Universalist", he excelled in all fields of mathematics as existed during his lifetime.

More information on Henri Poincaré on www.wikipedia.org.

July 2007

Dorothy Thompson
When freedom is taken away by force it can be restored by force but when it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered.
Dorothy Thompson (1893 - 1961) was an American journalist, who was noted by Time in 1939 as one of the two most influential women in America, the other being Eleanor Roosevelt. She is notable as the first U.S. journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany.

More information on Dorothy Thompson on www.wikipedia.org.

June 2007

David Herbert Lawrence
Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children brought up easy, let it slip away again, and their grandchildren are once more slaves.
David Herbert Richard Lawrence (1885 - 1930) was a very important and controversial English writer of the 20th century, whose prolific and diverse output included novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, paintings, translations, literary criticism and personal letters. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialisation.

More information on David Herbert Lawrence on www.wikipedia.org.

May 2007

Vincent De Roeck
Het is de tegenwind die de vlieger doet stijgen.
Or translated into English.
The head wind makes the kite go up and fly.
Vincent Jean De Roeck (1985 - ) is a law student, a libertarian blogger and a columnist for several libertarian media, such as Blueprint, Breakthrough, The Free State, Libertarian.be and The Citizen's Journal. Vincent De Roeck is also president of Nova Libertas and the Euramerican Friendship League.

More information on Vincent De Roeck on www.blogger.com.

April 2007

Rita Verdonk
De mens werkt om te leven, niet om belastingen te betalen.
Or translated into English.
Man works in order to live, not to pay taxes.
Rita Verdonk (1955 - ), nicknamed "Iron Rita", is a Dutch MP for the liberal VVD party and former Minister for Immigration, Integration, Juvenile Protection, Prevention and Probation.

More information on Rita Verdonk on www.wikipedia.org.

March 2007

Aristotle
Of all the varieties of virtues, liberalism is the most beloved.
Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Along with Socrates and Plato, he was among the most influential of the ancient Greek philosophers, as they transformed Presocratic Greek philosophy into the foundations of Western philosophy as it is known today.

More information on Aristotle on www.wikipedia.org.

February 2007

Barry Goldwater
Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
Barry Morris Goldwater (1909 – 1998) was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for president in the 1964 election. He is the American politician most often credited for sparking the resurgence of the American conservative political movement in the 1960s.

More information on Barry Goldwater on www.wikipedia.org.

January 2007

George Orwell
In time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell (1903 – 1950) was an English author and journalist. Noted as a novelist, critic, political and cultural commentator, Orwell is among the most widely admired English-language essayists of the 20th century. He is best known for two novels critical of totalitarianism in general, and Stalinism in particular: Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

More information on George Orwell on www.wikipedia.org.

December 2006

Sallust
Namque pauci libertatem, pars magna iustos dominos volunt.
Or translated into English.
Few men desire liberty. Most men only wish for a just master.
Gaius Sallustius Crispus (86 BC - 34 BC) was a famous Roman historian and belonged to a well-known plebeian family.

More information on Sallust on www.wikipedia.org.

November 2006

Edward Abbey
If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.
Edward Paul Abbey (1927 - 1989) was a liberal essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues and criticism of public land policies.

More information on Edward Abbey on www.wikipedia.org.

October 2006

Jesse James
God did not make men equal. Sam Colt did.
Jesse Woodson James (1847 – 1882) was an American outlaw and the most famous member of the James-Younger gang. He became a figure of folklore after his death, labeled as a gunfighter.

More information on Jesse James on www.wikipedia.org.

September 2006

Joseph Addison
Let freedom never perish in your hands.
Joseph Addison (1672 – 1719) was an English politician and writer, who was also known for having founded The Spectator magazine.

More information on Joseph Addison on www.wikipedia.org.

August 2006

Ronald Reagan
Don't steal, the government hates competition.
Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911 - 2004) was President of the United States and Governor of California. He introduced fiscally-expansive economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics", and ended the Cold War.

More information on Ronald Reagan on www.wikipedia.org.

July 2006

John Stark
Live free or die.
John Stark (1728 – 1822) was a general who served in the American Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.

More information on John Stark on www.wikipedia.org.

June 2006

Vegetius
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
Or translated into English.
Let him who desires peace prepare for war.
Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (? - ?) was a writer of the Later Roman Empire. Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what he tells us in his two surviving works: Epitoma Rei Militaris (war) and Digesta Artis Mulomedicinae (medicine).

More information on Vegetius on www.wikipedia.org.

May 2006

Voltaire
Je hais vos idées mais je me ferai tuer pour que vous ayez le droit de les exprimer.
Or translated into English.
I despise your ideas, but I will defend to the death your right to express them.
François-Marie Arouet Voltaire (1694 – 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, deist and philosopher known for his wit, philosophical sport, and defense of civil liberties.

More information on Voltaire on www.wikipedia.org.

April 2006

Vincent De Roeck
Het is nooit te laat om op het verkeerde pad rechtsomkeer te maken.
Or translated into English.
On the wrong path, it is never too late to make a turn.
Vincent Jean De Roeck (1985 - ) is a Belgian politician, a renowned Flemish blogger and an upcoming young libertarian thinker. He is president of Nova Libertas and the Euramerican Friendship League. He will also be candidate for the VLD in the october 2006 Antwerp municipal elections.

More information on Vincent De Roeck on www.vincentderoeck.be.

March 2006

Wendell Phillips
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Wendell Phillips (1811 - 1884) was an American abolitionist, advocate for Native Americans, and orator.

More information on Wendell Phillips on www.wikipedia.org.

February 2006

Thomas Jefferson
A democracy is mob rule where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) was President of the United States, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States.

More information on Thomas Jefferson on www.wikipedia.org.

January 2006

Goethe
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832) was a German polymath. Goethe's works span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, Humanism, science, and painting. Goethe was one of the key figures of German literature and his influence spread across Europe.

More information on Goethe on www.wikipedia.org.

December 2005

Willem Coppenolle
In een democratie horen de camera's in het stadhuis te hangen.
Or translated into English.
In a democracy, surveillance camera's must not hang in streets, but inside city hall.
Willem Coppenolle (1983 - ) is a libertarian Flemish nationalist blogger and editor-in-chief of the Blueprint magazine.

More information on Willem Coppenolle on www.willemcoppenolle.be.

November 2005

Filip Dewinter
Europe is like the Roman Empire - indulged, decadent, flooded with immigrants and unprepared to fight for its culture.
Filip Dewinter (1962 - ) is a Flemish regional MP and floor leader for the republican Vlaams Belang party.

More information on Filip Dewinter on www.filipdewinter.be.

October 2005

Vincent De Roeck
Responsibility is a free man's burden.
Vincent Jean De Roeck (1985 - ) is a member of the liberal VLD party, the liberal-conservative thinktank Nova Civitas and the classical-liberal LVSV movement. He is also attached to the freedom-loving group In Flanders Fields and the libertarian thinktank Nova Libertas. His libertarian inspired columns, articles and analyses have been published in The Citizen's Journal, Blueprint and Breakthrough, as well as throughout cyberspace.

More information on Vincent De Roeck on www.brusselsjournal.com.

September 2005

Albert Einstein
The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.
Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist. He is best known for his theory of relativity. Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics. His work includes more than fifty scientific papers and non-scientific books. In 1999, he was named Time magazine's "Person of the Century".

More information on Albert Einstein on www.wikipedia.org.

August 2005

Ronald Reagan
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in the following three short phrases. If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911 – 2004) was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California. Reagan was a prominent New Deal Democrat until switching parties in 1962, becoming a Republican. Reagan began his presidency by introducing fiscally-expansive economic policies, dubbed "Reaganomics." Reagan instituted his policy of "peace through strength" in an arms race with the Soviet Union. He rejected détente and confronted Communism, famously portraying the USSR as an "Evil Empire" and supporting anti-Communist movements worldwide.

More information on Ronald Reagan on www.whitehouse.gov.

July 2005

Syrus
Beneficium accipere libertatem est vendere.
Or translated into English.
Accepting a favour is selling one's freedom.
Publilius Syrus (? - ?) is a Latin writer of maxims, flourished in the 1st century BC. He was brought to Italy as a slave, but by his wit and talent he won the favor of his master, who freed and educated him. He ofted performed for Caesar and was also famous as an improviser. All that remains of his works is a collection of Sentences (Sententiae).

More information on Syrus on www.wikipedia.org.

June 2005

Thomas Jefferson
Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) was President of the United States, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. As a political philosopher, Jefferson was a man of the Enlightenment and knew many intellectual leaders in Britain and France. He idealized the independent yeoman farmer as exemplar of the republican virtue, distrusted cities and financiers, and favored states' rights and a strictly limited federal government. Jefferson supported the separation of church and state, and was the co-founder and leader of the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated American politics for a quarter-century. Jefferson also served as the wartime Governor of Virginia, as United States Secretary of State, and as Vice President of the United States. A polymath, Jefferson achieved distinction as an horticulturist, statesman, architect, archaeologist, paleontologist, author, inventor, and as founder of the University of Virginia.

More information on Thomas Jefferson on www.whitehouse.gov.

May 2005

Ottmar Hitzfeld
Die zum Tode verurteilten leben am längsten.
Or translated into English.
Those who are condemned to death, often live the longest.
Ottmar Hitzfeld (1949 - ) is a German former football player and manager. The trained mathematics teacher is not only the most successful German coach, but also one of the most outstanding in the history of the soccer game.

More information on Ottmar Hitzfeld on www.wikipedia.org.

April 2005

Bertolt Brecht
Wäre es da Nicht doch einfacher, die Regierung Löste das Volk auf und Wählte ein anderes?
Or translated into English.
Would it not be simpler to dismiss the people and elect another in their place?
Eugen Bertolt Friedrich Brecht (1898 - 1956) was an influential East-German socialist, democrat, dramatist, stage director, and poet.

More information on Bertolt Brecht on www.wikipedia.org.

March 2005

Ruud Lubbers
We hebben allemaal één ding gemeen en dat is dat we allemaal een hekel aan de overheid hebben.
Or translated into English.
We all have one belief in common. We all hate the government.
Rudolphus Franciscus Marie Lubbers (1939 - ) was Prime Minister of the Netherlands and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. A political conservative, Lubbers was regarded by many during his time in office as an ideological heir to Margaret Thatcher.

More information on Ruud Lubbers on www.wikipedia.org.

February 2005

Oscar Wilde
Nous portons des chaînes, bien que l'oeil ne les voie pas, et nous sommes esclaves bien qu'on nous appelle des hommes libres.
Or translated into English.
We all live in iron chains, although our eyes can't see them, and we all remain slaves, although we call ourselves free men.
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854 – 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. Known for his barbed wit, he was one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day.

More information on Oscar Wilde on www.wikipedia.org.

January 2005

Terence
Corruptisima re publica plurimae leges.
Or translated into English.
The most corrupt states have the most laws.
Publius Terentius Afer (? - ?) was a Roman writer of comic plays. He lived in Carthage prior to being brought to Rome as a slave.

More information on Terence on www.wikipedia.org.