Its Natural Manure

head like an orange

Beach Boys: Shut Down

The people cannot be all,
and always, well informed.
The part which is wrong
will be discontented,
in proportion to the importance
of the facts they misconceive.
If they remain quiet
under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner
of death to the public liberty.
What country before ever existed
a century and half without a rebellion?
And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?
Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts,
pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two?
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time
with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure.
--Thomas Jefferson

Don't worry, boys. They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist...
--Gen. John Sedgewick
last words at the Battle of Spotsylvania, 1863