"The tree of liberty could not grow
were it not watered with the blood of tyrants"
by:
Bertrand Barere de Vieuzac
(1755-1841) French politician and journalist, member of the National Convention during the French Revolution
Source:
Speech in the Convention Nationale, 1872
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Reader comments about this quote:
The tree of liberty is being hacked to pieces and dried up. It's time to care for liberty and water the tree.
 -- Joe, Rochester, MI		 
 -- Lisa, Wichita, KS 
Great quote, but America no longer has men with balls big enough to act. They've been neutered.
 -- Aug, Bronx		 
Which is why I say we should mandate a public hanging of a public official at least once a year.
 -- Logan, Memphis, TN		 
Oh, yeah...and the French revolutionaries, like the author of this quote, did a great job of reorganizing French government and society. Didn't they?
 -- David L. Rosenthal		 
Hey Logan."Right On"Your comment made me giggle.That's a great idea.Anyway,about the quote....I like it.
 -- Anonymous		 
 -- Mike, Norwalk 
This quote was echoed by Jefferson - "And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms....The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants" --Thomas Jefferson in a letter to William S. Smith in 1787. Taken from Jefferson, On Democracy p. 20, S. Padover ed., 1939
 -- Mike, Mount Holly, NC		 
David has a good point though. You can't have a revolution without a good plan to replace the current government. I believe our SYSTEM of government and our Constitution is good. We just need people with principle who will foolow it. What do you think this country would look like if every law which didn't meet Constitutional muster was erased?
 -- Mike, Mount Holly, NC		 
I really like this website and these quotes, and I like the comments by the regular readers. They encourage me to see there are others out there who believe like I do, and they challenge me and make me think. I only wish some of the discussions could be continued like in a bulletin board or forum format. After a few days the qoutes and comments just disappear into cyberspace.
 -- Mike, Mount Holly, NC		 
Henry David Thoreau said, "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." Unfortunately, there sometimes seems to be thousands striking at the root of the tree of Liberty. Maybe to them, liberty is evil.
 -- Anonymous		 
Logan is right. But the legislators have protected themselves from the kinds of punishments they dish out to the common people. The big thieves hang the little ones.
 -- E Archer, NYC		 
Murder is not the answer to all problems...
 -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US		 
Reston, Tyrants are nothing more than murderous pirates that refuse to use their power to rule justly. To eliminate a tyrant is hardly murder, in the legal sense. Have you not heard of justifiable homicide? Although not a Christian's duty, it is a logical legal standard that those who murder, extort, oppress, enslave, and otherwise criminally abuse, should be severely punished, which often requires the execution of such people as commit acts that characterize a tyrant's routine. Of course, it is always more complicated than that; tyrants are surrounded by armed henchmen and others that do their bidding, forming a central body of tyranny that may number in the thousands, who oppress millions of others. An attempt to overthrow them easily results in the deaths of thousands of innocent victims. So murder may be the outcome, in any case.
 -- David L Rosenthal		 
Reston, you're right, not all problems, just Bush's problems.
 -- Logan, Memphis		 
One man's Tyrant is another man's Staunch Defender of the Righteous Way. Murder is murder: taking a life is taking a life. If you feel justified in taking someone's life, I guarantee that I could find someone who feels equally justified in taking yours.
 -- firefly, Milwaukee		 
Here, here, Reston!
 -- O. Delusional Liberal		 
 
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