A man from a prior era, yet a man for the ages. A genuine American. The Guru.
- "Personal weapons are what raised mankind out of the mud, and the rifle is the queen of personal weapons."
- "The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependent completely upon the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny, since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized."
- "The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles."
- —Jeff Cooper, The Art of the Rifle
"A free man must not be told how to think, either by the government or by social activists.He may certainly be shown the right way, but he must not accept being forced into it. " "Rifles are inanimate objects that have no will of their own. As such, they may be used by evil men for evil purposes. While an evil man may not be persuaded by propaganda, he may certainly be corrected by good men with rifles." - Col. Jeff Cooper
"If you can't do it with a .30-06, it probably can't be done." - The Late Col. Jeff Cooper
“The conclusions seem inescapable that in certain circles a tendency has arisen to fear people who fear government. Government, as the Father of Our Country put it so well, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. People who understand history, especially the history of government, do well to fear it. For a people to express openly their fear of those of us who are afraid of tyranny is alarming. Fear of the state is in no sense subversive. It is, to the contrary, the healthiest political philosophy for a free people.”
– LtCol John Dean “Jeff” Cooper, USMC (retired)
May 10, 1920 – September 25, 2006
