#ate

[I]t is the greatest absurdity to suppose it in the power of one, or of any number of men, at the entering into society to renounce their essential natural rights, or the means of preserving those rights, when the grand end of civil government, from the very nature of its institution, is for the support, protection, and defence of those very rights; the principal of which, as is before observed, are life, liberty, and property. If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up an essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right of freedom being the gift of God Almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave. ↗

— Samuel Adams

#american-revolution #citizenship #freedom #state #freedom

With each passing day, I become more and more convinced that the greatest threat to American freedom is the United States government. ↗

— Michel Templet

#politics #united-states #freedom

The American people want to know that when they borrow a book from the library or buy a book, the government won't be looking over their shoulder. Everybody wants to fight terrorism, but we have to do it in away that protects American freedom. ↗

— Bernie Sanders

#freedom

[I]n my own case at least I feel my professional need for freedom of speech and expression prejudices me toward a government whose constitution guarantees it. ↗

— John Updike

#free-speech #politics #united-states #united-states-constitution #war

Nobody objected to live in prison if already felt comfortable living in it. ↗

— Toba Beta

#living-in-prison #state-of-mind #freedom

To what extent does anybody control his destiny? Life is very much like falling of the edge of a cliff. You have complete freedom to make all the choices you want to take on your way down. My characters choose to yearn and not lose hope even when the odds are completely against them. It doesn't make the landing at the end of that fall any less painful but, somehow, it helps them keep a little dignity their bone broken body. ↗

— Etgar Keret

#free-will #hope #humor #writing #freedom

Shall I faint, now that I have poured out the spirit of my mind to the world, and treated many subjects with truth, with freedom, with power, because I have been followed with one cry of abuse ever since for not being a Government tool? ↗

— William Hazlitt

#freedom #government-tool #porup-satire #truth #united-states-of-air

I have never wished to cater to the crowd; for what I know they do not approve, and what they approve I do not know. ↗

— Epicurus

#cater #crowd #i #i do #know

The concept of reason itself appears as an artificial attempt to separate intellectual powers from the frustrations, emotions, and accidents which cause events; the concept of reason is viewed as facade to prevent change. ↗

— Edward Levi

#appears #artificial #attempt #cause #change

Tyranny flourishes in those societies that reject the Reformed Faith. Tyranny is squelched and liberty flourishes in those societies that embrace the Reformed Faith in all its fullness. ↗

— Joseph C. Morecraft III

#confederacy #confederate-states-of-america #freedom #liberty #reformed-faith