For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and to provide for it.
PATRICK HENRYThe 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!
More Patrick Henry Quotes
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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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Liberty, the greatest of all earthly blessings – give us that precious jewel and you may take everything else!
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If this be treason, make the most of it!
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The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
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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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I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
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I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.
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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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I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
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Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
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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!
PATRICK HENRY -
The eternal difference between right and wrong does not fluctuate, it is immutable.
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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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I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past.
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Give me liberty or give me death.
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Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Beside, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of Nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.
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Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who comes near that precious jewel. Unfortunately, nothing.
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Fear is the passion of slaves.
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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.
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It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.
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It is the business of a virtuous clergy to censure vice in every appearance of it.
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I smell a rat.
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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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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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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.
PATRICK HENRY -
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.
PATRICK HENRY