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The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.

Patrick Henry

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Patrick Henry
Age: 63 †
Born: 1736
Born: May 29
Died: 1799
Died: June 6
Governor Of Virginia
Lawyer
Politician
Slaveholder
Hanover County
Virginia
Henry
May
Rulers
Ever
Secure
Concealment
Never
Information
People
Liberty
Transactions
Politics
Transparency
Freedom
Liberties
Political
Secrecy
Government
Concealed

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The King has degenerated into a tyrant and forfeits all rights to his subjects' obedience.
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[Our Constitution] is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.
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The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
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It is the business of a virtuous clergyman to censure vice in every appearance of it.
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I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.
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Away with your president! We shall have a king... the army will salute him as monarch your militia will leave you and assist in making him king and fight against you. And what have you to oppose this force? What will then become of you and your rights?
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Jealousy is the only vice that gives no pleasure
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I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.
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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!
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This house protected by an armed citizen. There is absolutely nothing here worth dying for.
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My great objection to this government is, that it does not leave us the means of defending our rights, or of waging war against tyrants.
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Suspicion is a virtue as long as its object is the public good, and as long as it stays within proper bounds. Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel.
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When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object.
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Righteousness alone can exalt them [America] as a nation. Reader! Whoever thou art, remember this, and in thy sphere practice virtue thyself and encourage it in others.
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I am not a Virginian, I am an American.
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Being a Christian... is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.
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Show me that age and country where the rights and liberties of the people were placed on the sole chance of their rulers being good men, without a consequent loss of liberty?
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Human nature will never part with power. Look for an example of a voluntary relinquishment of power from one end of the globe to another - you will find none.
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. . . Virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone that renders us invincible. These are the tactics we should study. If we lose these, we are conquered, fallen indeed . . . so long as our manners and principles remain sound, there is no danger.
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The eternal difference between right and wrong does not fluctuate, it is immutable.
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