Foundational Principles Quotes

I think it's important to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. The normal way we conduct our lives is we reason by analogy. [With analogy] we are doing this because it's like something else that was done, or it is like what other people are doing. [With first principles] you boil things down to the most fundamental truths…and then reason up from there.

An open mind, in questions that are not ultimate, is useful. But an open mind about the ultimate foundations either of Theoretical or of Practical Reason is idiocy. If a man's mind is open on these things, let his mouth at least be shut. He can say nothing to the purpose. Outside the Tao there is no ground for criticizing either the Tao or anything else.

The shortest and surest way of arriving at real knowledge is to unlearn the lessons we have been taught, to mount the first principles, and take nobody's word about them.

The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.

On the Republican Party platform and the major issues of the Republican Party, Charlie Dent is significantly removed from those foundational principles in his voting record.

Every single organization - or career, for that matter - exists on three levels: WHAT you do, HOW you do it and WHY you do it.

Pope John Paul II stands like a rock against all opposition in his clear enunciation of the foundational principles of the Christian faith.

Anyone can run for office. When I ran for Governor of Minnesota, the only requirement was that you had to be a state resident. I believe you had to be over thirty five years old, something like that. That's the way our country was founded. That anyone can run for office. That you're not required to be a lawyer, you're not required to be anything.

We must not be willing to disinter the origins of those [institutions] we wish to preserve.

Mathematics has not a foot to stand upon which is not purely metaphysical.

My dad, like any coach, has always stressed the fundamentals. He taught me responsibility, accountability, and the importance of hard work.

There's a real simple analogy. You have to perceive it from the ground up. You have to lay a firm foundation, then every step becomes part of a logical process.

The minute you get away from fundamentals – whether its proper technique, work ethic or mental preparation – the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you’re doing.

Tradition matters. To me it's not a limiting force; it's a springboard.

Build your empire on the firm foundation of the fundamentals.

Unlike every other nation in the world, the United States defines itself as a hypothesis and constitutes itself as an argument.

But there's no reason why we should abdicate our foundational principles because certain groups don't believe in them. You know, no majority should surrender its deeply held beliefs to those who don't believe in anything.

Since the revolution of the 18th century, America has basically had an ideology of liberal democracy and constitutionalism.

Being a Secret Service agent, I have an obligation not to disclose personal conversations and security details. But that doesn't prevent me from speaking generally about foundational principles and the system of patronage and punishment I saw in the Obama administration.

No great, inspiring culture of the future can be built upon the moral principle of relativism. For at its bottom such a culture holds that nothing is better than anything else, and that all things are in themselves equally meaningless. Except for the fragments of faith (in progress, in compassion, in conscience, in hope) to which it still clings, illegitimately, such a culture teaches every one of its children that life is a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing.

When ancient opinions and rules of life are taken away, the loss cannot possibly be estimated. From that moment, we have no compass to govern us, nor can we know distinctly to what port to steer.

In order to restore our country to the principles on which it was founded, we need to elect leaders that believe in the principles of the party, not just the power of the party.

Revolution was written into the U.S. Constitution so it's like they're in a constant state of revolution. But then again, happiness is written into their constitution as well, which makes them pretty unique.

The world has changed. People who care nothing about norms can no longer be dismissed as a fringe. For generations, left-wing activists have instructed students and other groups that norms are the building blocks of a rigged system that deprives them of power and denies their “selfless” desires. We don’t want to acknowledge what this has wrought. We have norms because they safeguard foundational principles, such as due process, the presumption of innocence, and freedom from unreasonable and unwarranted police prying. But the Left is no longer attached to those principles.

A good man regards the root; he fixes the root, and ail else flows out of it. The root is filial piety; the fruit brotherly love.