William Paterson

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When the righteous rule, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.
- William Paterson
Collection: Law
Image of William Paterson
The Constitution is the origin and measure of legislative authority. It says to legislators, thus far ye shall go and no farther. Not a particle of it should be shaken; not a pebble of it should be removed.
- William Paterson
Collection: Law
Image of William Paterson
Does he [the president] possess the power of making war? That power is exclusively vested in Congress. . . . It is the exclusive province of Congress to change a state of peace into a state of war.
- William Paterson
Collection: War
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The bank hath benefit of interest on all moneys which it creates out of nothing.
- William Paterson
Collection: Historical
Image of William Paterson
It is evident that the right of acquiring and possessing property, and having it protected, is one of the natural, inherent, and unalienable rights of man. Men have a sense of property: Property is necessary to their subsistence, and correspondent to their natural wants and desires; its security was one of the objects, that induced them to unite in society. No man would become a member of a community, in which he could not enjoy the fruits of his honest labour and industry.
- William Paterson
Collection: Men