#evolution

[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

Labor in the white skin can never free itself as long as labor in the black skin is branded. ↗

— Karl Marx

#civil-war #communism #freedom #freedom-of-choice #liberty

You'd like Freedom, Truth, and Justice, wouldn't you, Comrade Sergeant?' said Reg encouragingly. 'I'd like a hard-boiled egg,' said Vimes, shaking the match out. There was some nervous laughter, but Reg looked offended. 'In the circumstances, Sergeant, I think we should set our sights a little higher--' 'Well, yes, we could,' said Vimes, coming down the steps. He glanced at the sheets of papers in front of Reg. The man cared. He really did. And he was serious. He really was. 'But...well, Reg, tomorrow the sun will come up again, and I'm pretty sure that whatever happens we won't have found Freedom, and there won't be a whole lot of Justice, and I'm damn sure we won't have found Truth. But it's just possible that I might get a hard-boiled egg. ↗

— Terry Pratchett

#freedom #hard-boiled-egg #justice #realism #revolution

Remove yourself, sir! ↗

— David McCullough

#david-mccullough #funny #history #john-adams #funny

The revolution has no leader, I said. It was more like a raging wild horse that would buck anyone who tried to mount it against its will. ↗

— Wael Ghonim

#inspirational #protest #strength #inspirational

Certainly it's a rare glimpse into the lives of the Secular Ancients. They don't seem as bad as the Dominion histories make them out to be. Though clearly they were imperfect." "I don't deny that they were imperfect," Julian said in a distant voice. "I'm not uncritical of the Secular Ancients, Adam. They had all sorts of vices, and they committed one sin for which I can never bring myself to entirely forgive them." "What sin is that?" "They evolved into us," he said. ↗

— Robert Charles Wilson

#history #perfection #society #forgiveness

Perhaps I was hosting my own personal sexual revolution. You know the kind that will not be televised. ↗

— Sabrina Childress

#freedom #revolution #sabrina-childress #sex #sexual-freedom

The British Army and Navy sang a rousing song called "Heart of Oak"; the rebels had writ one to counter it called "The Liberty Song." Both songs blustered of freedom; but both were sung to the same tune. And we, to avoid offense, played the tune without words. ↗

— M.T. Anderson

#freedom