Gentlemen may cry peace, peace- but there is no peace! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why should we idle here?…I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
PATRICK HENRYI smell a rat.
More Patrick Henry Quotes
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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
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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.
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The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.
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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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The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I Am Not A Virginian, But An American!
PATRICK HENRY -
I smell a rat.
PATRICK HENRY -
The battle, Sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, Sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable; and let it come! I repeat, Sir, let it come!
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Patrick Henry wanted the Constitution to have a Bill of Rights attached to it — a list of powers that the government could never use against the people of the United States.
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I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past.
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Liberty, the greatest of all earthly blessings – give us that precious jewel and you may take everything else!
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I have now disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian Religion. If they had that and I had not given them one shilling they would have been rich; and if they had not that and I had given them all the world, they would be poor.
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This is all the inheritance I give to my dear family. The religion of Christ will give them one which will make them rich indeed.
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When the American Spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different; Liberty, sir, was then the primary object.
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Will preserve it but downright force. When you give up that force, you are ruined.
PATRICK HENRY -
I believe a time will come when an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable evil.
PATRICK HENRY -
If this be treason, make the most of it!
PATRICK HENRY -
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts.
PATRICK HENRY -
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.
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A King, by disallowing Acts of this salutary nature, from being the father of his people, degenerated into a Tyrant and forfeits all rights to his subjects’ obedience.
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United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.
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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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We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or other officials, only men that know the law of the realm and are minded to keep it well.
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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?
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It is the business of a virtuous clergy to censure vice in every appearance of it.
PATRICK HENRY -
The eternal difference between right and wrong does not fluctuate, it is immutable.
PATRICK HENRY -
I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
PATRICK HENRY