The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.
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!
Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.
If you want total security, go to prison. There you’re fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom.
I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
Freedom is the oxygen of the soul.
It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness...
Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.
Men speak of natural rights, but I challenge any one to show where in nature any rights existed or were recognized until there was established for their declaration and protection a duly promulgated body of corresponding laws.
Be sincere; be brief; be seated.
A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.
Man’s greatness consists in his ability to do and the proper application of his powers to things needed to be done.
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.
If you can’t get them to salute when they should salute and wear the clothes you tell them to wear, how are you going to get them to die for their country?
The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.
The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.
All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’
I know there is a God – I see the storm coming and I see his hand in it – if he has a place then I am ready – we see the hand.