Quote

It is not unfrequent to hear men declaim loudly upon liberty, who, if we may judge by the whole tenor of their actions, mean nothing else by it but their own liberty, to oppress without control or the restraint of laws all who are poorer or weaker than themselves.

Samuel Adams

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Samuel Adams
Age: 81 †
Born: 1722
Born: September 27
Died: 1803
Died: October 2
Founding Father Of The United States
Philosopher
Politician
Boston
Massachusetts
Sam Adams
Without
Control
Loudly
Nothing
Liberty
Poorer
Whole
Hear
Weaker
Mean
Law
Restraint
Men
Upon
Judge
Action
Actions
Tenor
Else
Judging
Tenors
May
Laws
Oppress

More quotes by Samuel Adams

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We may look up to Armies for Defence, but Virtue is our best Security. It is not possible that any state should long remain free, where Virtue is not supremely honord.
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A nation of shopkeepers are very seldom so disinterested.
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I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she will. It depends on her virtue.
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In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practiced, and both by precept and example inculcated on mankind.
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Man's rights are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.
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Our unalterable resolution would be to be free. They have attempted to subdue us by force, but God be praised! in vain. Their arts may be more dangerous then their arms. Let us then renounce all treaty with them upon any score but that of total separation, and under God trust our cause to our swords.
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Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote...that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom - go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!
Samuel Adams
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If virtue & knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslav'd. This will be their great security.
Samuel Adams
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For no People will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can they easily be subdued, where Knowledge is diffusd and Virtue preservd . On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own Weight, without the Aid of foreign Invaders.
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May every citizen ... have a proper sense of the Deity upon his mind and an impression of the declaration recorded in the Bible, 'Him that honoreth Me I will honor, but he that despiseth Me shall be lightly esteemed.'
Samuel Adams
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The public cannot be too curious concerning the characters of public men.
Samuel Adams
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If our Trade be taxed, why not our Lands, or Produce in short, everything we possess? They tax us without having legal representation.
Samuel Adams
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Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can.
Samuel Adams
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It requires time to bring honest Men to think & determine alike even in important Matters. Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason.
Samuel Adams
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The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy this gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people.
Samuel Adams
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It is a very great mistake to imagine that the object of loyalty is the authority and interest of one individual man, however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular actions.
Samuel Adams
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It is therefore recommended... to set apart Thursday the eighteenth day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise, that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor.
Samuel Adams
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Let us contemplate our forefathers, and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the latter.
Samuel Adams
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If we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.
Samuel Adams