“Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”
― Harry S. Truman
True leaders have a thirst for knowledge and understanding. Their ability to understand situations and people allows them to lead wisely. Knowledge leaves individuals unsatisfied with status quo and with average thinking and action. Understanding allows leaders to use the knowledge they have gained, effectively.
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to P. S. du Pont de Nemours, April 24, 1816:
“Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of the day.”
“Fundamental knowledge can be used broadly by understanding concepts. Understanding the concepts that guide good government can allow us to make wise decisions on specific or technical matters that we are not well-versed in. Citizens can, and must, hold their public functionaries accountable for their actions, and advise them on what actions they should be taking.”
Benjamin Rush, Essay, 1786:
“It is favourable to liberty. Freedom can exist only in the society of knowledge. Without learning, men are incapable of knowing their rights, and where learning is confined to a few people, liberty can be neither equal nor universal.”
Each of us can determine to advance our knowledge and understanding by taking advantage of the many opportunities to read. In this day and age, even those who don’t care to read can listen to books in audio formats. Everyone can advance their understanding of interests they have through books, audios, videos, classes, and discussions.
American Patriots will always have an interest in our freedoms and the foundations that built it. With the many sources available, we hope that all will continue to learn.
Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779:
“If Virtue & Knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be enslav’d. This will be their great Security.”
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William C. Jarvis, 1820
“I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, (A)nd if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.”
Justin Magill
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