Liberty Quotes - Daily Email History

"America, my friends, is the only country in the world
actually founded on liberty -- the only one.
People went to America to be free."

~ Margaret Thatcher  

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

~ Patrick Henry  

"America is another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears
like a last effort of divine Providence in behalf of the human race."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson  

Outside Independence Hall when the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, "A republic, if you can keep it."

~ Benjamin Franklin  

"The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is in extending our commercial relations to have as little political connection as possible... Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalships, interest, humor, or caprice?... It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world."

~ George Washington  

"Objects of the most stupendous magnitude, and measure in which the lives and liberties of millions yet unborn are intimately interested, are now before us. We are in the very midst of a revolution the most complete, unexpected and remarkable of any in the history of nations."

~ John Adams  

"But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security."

~ Declaration of Independence  

"We the People of the united States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the
common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America."

~ Constitution for the USA  

"It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties.
We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens,
and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution.
The freeman of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened
itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents.
They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided
the consequences by denying the principle."

~ James Madison  

"I have never advocated war except as a means of peace."

~ Ulysses S. Grant  

"Let us recollect that peace or war
will not always be left to our option;
that however moderate or unambitious we may be,
we cannot count upon the moderation, or
hope to extinguish the ambition of others. ...
The best we can hope for concerning the people
at large is that they be properly armed."

~ Alexander Hamilton  

"A just fear of an imminent danger,
though there be no blow given,
is a lawful cause of war."

~ Sir Francis Bacon  

"Endless money forms the sinews of war."

~ Marcus Tullius Cicero  

"War is in fact the true nurse of executive aggrandizement."

~ James Madison  

"Another not unimportant consideration is, that the powers of the general government will be, and indeed must be, principally employed upon external objects, such as war, peace, negotiations with foreign powers, and foreign commerce. In its internal operations it can touch but few objects, except to introduce regulations beneficial to the commerce, intercourse, and other relations, between the states, and to lay taxes for the common good. The powers of the states, on the other hand, extend to all objects, which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, and liberties, and property of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the state."

~ Joseph Story