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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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Patrick Henry
Age: 63 †
Born: 1736
Born: May 29
Died: 1799
Died: June 6
Governor Of Virginia
Lawyer
Politician
Slaveholder
Hanover County
Virginia
Henry
Good
Public
Men
Moral
State
Freedom
Incompatible
President
Corrupted
Cannot
Morals
States
Conscience
Make
Citizens

More quotes by Patrick Henry

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[Our Constitution] is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.
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Fear is the passion of slaves.
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Were my soul trembling on the wing of eternity, were this hand freezing to death, were my voice choking with the last struggle, I would still, with the last gasp of that voice, implore you to remember the truth: God has given America to be free.
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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.
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Jealousy is the only vice that gives no pleasure
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What right do they have to say we the people rather than we the States?
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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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I believe a time will come when an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable evil.
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Give me liberty or give me death.
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The eternal difference between right and wrong does not fluctuate, it is immutable.
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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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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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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.
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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.
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Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace! – but there is no peace.
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For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth to know the worst and provide for it.
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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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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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Being a Christian... is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.
Patrick Henry
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I am not a Virginian, I am an American.
Patrick Henry