"I have an almost complete disregard of precedent and a faith in the possibility of something better. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I cannot afford the luxury of a closed mind. I go for anything new that might improve the past." -Clara Barton
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
“These fabulous Miss Americas are rebellious women. They rebel against others’ cramped vision of what is possible. They rebel against their own limiting beliefs. They rebel against constraints and narrow minds. They forge their own paths. It is what’s inside that counts. They choose success.” -Penny Pearlman
“Vermonters share a powerful positive belief about the state. There is a prevailing sentiment that Vermont is much more than a place. It is a profound idea.” - Report of the Council on the Future of Vermont
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors." Thomas Jefferson
"We must recognize the full human equality of all of our people before God, before the law, and in the councils of government. We must do this, not because it is economically advantageous, although it is; not because the laws of God command it, although they do; not because people in other lands wish it so. We must do it for the single and fundamental reason that it is the right thing to do." Robert F. Kennedy
"Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live." Oscar Wilde
"I love Vermont because of her hills and valleys, her scenery and invigorating climate, but most of all because of her indomitable people. They are a race of pioneers who have almost beggared themselves to serve others. If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the union and support of our institutions should languish, it could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont." President Calvin Coolidge
