Quote

Adversity toughens manhood, and the characteristic of the good or the great man is not that he has been exempt from the evils of life, but that he has surmounted 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
Characteristics
Adversity
Evil
Great
Surmounted
Good
Exempt
Men
Characteristic
Life
Evils
Manhood

More quotes by Patrick Henry

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[Our Constitution] is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.
Patrick Henry
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Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom.
Patrick Henry
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Have we the means of resisting disciplined armies, when our only defence, the militia, is put in the hands of Congress?
Patrick Henry
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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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Being a Christian... is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.
Patrick Henry
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We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power... the battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Patrick Henry
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What right do they have to say we the people rather than we the States?
Patrick Henry
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The whole economy of this lower world proves that it is by labor and perseverance only that good is obtained and evil is avoided.
Patrick Henry
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The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Patrick Henry
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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!
Patrick Henry
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The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery
Patrick Henry
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The eternal difference between right and wrong does not fluctuate, it is immutable.
Patrick Henry
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O sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if, to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people! Your arms, wherewith you could defend yourselves, are gone.
Patrick Henry
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Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?
Patrick Henry
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....I am sure that the dangers of this system (the Federal Constitution) are real, when those who have no similar interest with the people of this country (the South) are to legislate for us - when our dearest rights are to be left, in the hands of those, whose advantage it will be to infringe them.
Patrick Henry
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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.
Patrick Henry
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This house protected by an armed citizen. There is absolutely nothing here worth dying for.
Patrick Henry
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Fear is the passion of slaves.
Patrick Henry
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We have not yet begun to fight.
Patrick Henry
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It is the business of a virtuous clergyman to censure vice in every appearance of it.
Patrick Henry