"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid
growth."
"...freedom...[is]
a blessing, on which all the good and evil of life depends..."
"...the
spirit of freedom beat too high in us to submit to slavery..."
"We have
taken up Arms in Defense of our Liberty, our Property; our
Wives and our Children: We are determined to preserve them
or die."
"The cause
of America and of liberty...against which all the force and
Artifice of Tyranny will never be able to prevail."
"Our cause
is noble. It is the cause of Mankind!"
"...we
mean to support the liberty and independence which have cost
us
so much blood and treasure to establish..."
"...express
your utmost horror and detestation of the Man who wishes,
under any specious pretenses, to overturn the liberties
of our Country..."
"As the
sword was the last resort for the preservation of our liberties,
so ought it be the first to be laid aside when those
liberties are firmly established."
"...your
union ought to be considered as a main prop to your liberty;
the love of the one ought to endear you to the preservation
of the other."
"Liberty
will find itself...where the Government..[will] maintain
all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of
person
and property."
"...under
[government's] protection; everyone will reap the fruit of
his labors; every one will enjoy his own acquisitions without
molestation and without danger."
"[government]
has no more right to put their hands into my pockets, without
my consent, than I have to put my hands into yours..."
"The marvel
of all history is the patience with which men and women submit
to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their
governments."
"Government
is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is a force, like fire:
a dangerous servant and a terrible master. Never for
a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."
"It will
be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of
his natural liberty on the supposition that he may abuse
it."
"...all
those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community
are equally entitled to the protections of civil government."
"Liberty...is,
indeed, little else than a name, where the government is
too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction..."
"If there
exists not a power to check [factions], what security has
a man for life, liberty, and property?"
"...the
preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny
of the republican model of government are justly considered,
perhaps, as deeply, as finally staked on the experiment entrusted
to the hands of the American People."
"It has
always been my creed that we should not be left as an awful
monument to prove, 'that Mankind, under
the most favorable circumstances, are unequal to the task
of Governing themselves,
and therefore made for a Master.'"
Washington
and Freedom
