The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious
encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning
but without understanding.
The perceptive – and prophetic -- words of wisdom are from former U.S. Supreme Court Justice,
Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941). Brandeis, considered among the greatest justices in history, was the first Jewish member of the Court and a tireless champion of social justice and civil liberty. He believed that, “Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.” In these strange times, where government has become – mostly with impugnity -- a frequent encroacher on civil liberties and violator of its own laws, we need to be especially mindful of Brandeis’s words.
The fireworks are provided by the large-flowering climbing rose,
Fourth of July.
