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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?

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
Without
Sole
Country
Loss
Good
Liberty
Men
Rights
People
Age
Consequent
Chance
Liberties
Show
Rulers
Shows
Placed

More quotes by 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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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.
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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Give me liberty or give me death.
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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They tell us, sir, that we are weak unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house?
Patrick Henry
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It is the business of a virtuous clergyman to censure vice in every appearance of it.
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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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 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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The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, that renders us invincible.
Patrick Henry
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I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.
Patrick Henry
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When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: Liberty, sir, was the primary object.
Patrick Henry
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Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell and George the Third — ['Treason!' cried the Speaker] — may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.
Patrick Henry
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We have not yet begun to fight.
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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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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I believe a time will come when an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable evil.
Patrick Henry
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I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.
Patrick Henry