Notable Quotes

The section, as it stands here, in no way interferes, directly or by implication, with the sacred right of the parent and the family first to educate their children if they wish to do so. It simply says that the State of New York, as a fundamental part of its policy toward all of its inhabitants, shall provide for a system of schools wherein if required — for those words, in my opinion, are fairly implied — all the children of the State may be educated; and that, of course, means if required by the parent.  ~  Frederick Holls, Chairman of the Committee on Education of the NY Constitutional Convention of 1894, which wrote Section I, Article XI (then IX) regarding the establishment of common [public] schools.

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~ Benjamin Franklin

I have, since the promulgation of Commissioner's Regulations 100.10, taken the position that the regulations, while binding upon public school administrators, are not binding upon those engaged in nonpublic, home school education ("elsewhere", as defined in the Education Law).  The reason I have taken that position is that it is clear to me that the Commissioner of Education, by definition, generally  has jurisdiction and authority over the State's system of education and not over private education. ~ Scott Perkins, Lawyer for defense in State Blackwelder Court Case, commenting on the NY Commissioner of Education Home Instruction Regulations s100.10. 

It is better to tolerate the rare instance of a parent refusing to let his child be educated than to shock the common feelings and ideas by the forcible asportation and education of the infant against the will of the father. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.  ~ Edmund Burke

I am sure that most knowledgeable participants in the process knew full well that the Commissioner could not legally promulgate home school regulations, but they served a purpose for all concerned. As a matter of expedience, most simply pretended that there Emperor indeed had clothes, and New York as a troublesome battleground became relatively quiet. ~ Scott Perkins, Lawyer for defense in State Blackwelder Court Case, commenting on the NY Commissioner of Education Home Instruction Regulations s100.10. 

I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. ~ James Madison

And that brings me to the first important lesson for conservatives - seek no incremental change. Pursuing only half-steps takes the focus off of liberalism's sweeping failure and deprives us of the larger philosophical and practical arguments that can carry the public debate.  So, our policies have to be up to our rhetoric.  We should remember what Napoleon said to one of his generals: "if you mean to take Vienna, take Vienna."  You must stick to your principles.  But it's important to keep the door open to opponents as well as to friends and allies.  It's also important to disagree civilly and courteously.  But let's not be afraid of the disagreement and controversy.  As Margaret Thatcher says, controversy is good, it moves the your agenda forward.... There's a lesson here. The American political system is built for robust debate; it's flexible enough to be both adversarial and collegial.  Take advantage of both, but, most of all, don't be afraid of being adversarial when core principles and goals are at stake. ~ George Pataki

Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government. The history of liberty is the history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it. ~ Woodrow Wilson

Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent ... the greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding. ~ Justice Louis Brandeis, Olmstead vs. United States, United States supreme Court, 1928

If the price I must pay for my freedom is to acknowledge that the government was granted the power to infringe on them, then I am not free. ~ Paul Anderson

Thus the committee, by stating in their report that the schools are to be provided for those children who are not otherwise provided for, recognizes the right of parents to educate their children, for it is not possible to imagine that the children not educated in the public schools can be otherwise educated or have their education otherwise provided for them by their parents.  The committee could not question that right with any hope of assent from us.  It is a right superior in the parents to that of any other person, superior to any right that might be asserted by the State or any other aggregation of persons.  This Convention, therefore, instead of denying the right of the parent to educate their children, is about to provide all the means of secular education that any parent can ask, to enable him to fully perform his sacred, bounden duty to educate his child.  It would seem, therefore, that since the right of the parent to direct the education of the child is undeniable, and is meant to be conceded here, that it is wiser to express it in the Constitution than to leave it unexpressed, and, therefore, capable in the near future of denial or controversy. ~ Mr. Campbell, Delegate from NYC,  arguing for the need for an amendment to clarify the new section on education during the NY Constitutional Convention of 1894, which wrote Section I, Article XI (then IX) regarding the establishment of common [public] schools.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences. ~ C.S. Lewis.

Above all I hope that the education of the common people will be attended to so they won't forget the basic principles of freedom. ~ Thomas Jefferson:

The people never give up their liberty but under some delusion. ~ Edmund Burke

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground. ~ Thomas Jefferson 

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.  Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. ~  Senator Barry Goldwater

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. ~ Edmund Burke

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests. ~ Patrick Henry

No constitution, no court, no law can save liberty when it dies in the hearts and minds of men. ~ John Perkins

On every question of construction [of the Constitution] let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or intended against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.  ~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, 12 June 1823

If I moved to New York, I would NOT file IHIPs or any of the other paperwork!  I'd take my chances with the "State Blackwelder Defense," and if I lost, I'd move to a free state. ~ Scott Somerville, Lawyer for HSLDA, on the homeschool climate in NY.

One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year.... It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty. To the contrary, I believe that it would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible, with the aid of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry--especially if the food, handed out under such coercion, were to be selected accordingly. ~ Albert Einstein, on his public schooling.