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[Our Constitution] is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.

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
Instrument
Libertarian
Instruments
Constitution
Government
People
Restraining
Restrain

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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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I am not a Virginian, I am an American.
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This house protected by an armed citizen. There is absolutely nothing here worth dying for.
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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?
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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?
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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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The Bible is worth all the other books which have ever been printed.
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Give me liberty or give me death.
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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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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.
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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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I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.
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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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I know not what others may choose but, as for me, give me liberty or give me death.
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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 shall act as I think my duty requires.
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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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It is the business of a virtuous clergyman to censure vice in every appearance of it.
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Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom.
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