#ty

He ate and drank the precious words, His spirit grew robust; He knew no more that he was poor, Nor that his frame was dust. He danced along the dingy days, And this bequest of wings Was but a book. What liberty A loosened spirit brings! ↗

— Emily Dickinson

#liberty

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. ↗

— Thomas Jefferson

#liberty

It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. Millions are condemned to a stiller doom than mine, and millions are in silent revolt against their lot. Nobody knows how many rebellions besides political rebellions ferment in the masses of life which people earth. Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts, as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, to absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. ↗

— Charlotte Brontë

#gender-equality #jane-eyre #equality

I would defend the liberty of consenting adult creationists to practice whatever intellectual perversions they like in the privacy of their own homes; but it is also necessary to protect the young and innocent. ↗

— Arthur C. Clarke

#liberty

Failure of government programs prompts more determined effort, while the loss of liberty is ignored or rationalized away...whether is it is the war on poverty, drugs, terrorism...or the current Hitler of the day, an appeal to patriotism is used to convince the people that a little sacrifice of liberty, here or there, is a small price to pay...The results, though, are frightening and will soon become even more so. ↗

— Ron Paul

#liberty

Whatever crushes individuality is despotism. ↗

— John Stuart Mill

#individuality #liberty #tyranny #liberty

Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly. ↗

— Spencer W. Kimball

#effort

Give me an opportunity to fail," Saiman said. "I promise my corpse won't interrupt your 'I told you so' speech. ↗

— Ilona Andrews

#saiman #opportunity

Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door. ↗

— Emily Dickinson

#opportunity

I used to feel so alone in the city. All those gazillions of people and then me, on the outside. Because how do you meet a new person? I was very stunned by this for many years. And then I realized, you just say, "Hi." They may ignore you. Or you may marry them. And that possibility is worth that one word. ↗

— Augusten Burroughs

#lonliness #opportunity #risk #social-anxiety #opportunity