Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.

Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Affirmation is an internal positive statement that supports an external outcome.

You can close more business in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.

The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it—but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.

It does not take a majority of prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.

Most obstacles melt away when we make up our minds to walk boldly through them.

Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.

Freedom exists not to do what you like but to have the right to do what you ought.

The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.

The mutual confidence on which all else depends can be maintained only by an open mind and a brave reliance upon free discussion.

You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.

I had always hoped that this land might become a safe & agreeable Asylum to the virtuous & persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.

Some people’s idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.

I shall work for the Republican party and call on all women to join me, precisely…for what that party has done and promises to do for women, nothing more, nothing less.

To change your mind and to follow him who sets you straight is to be nonetheless the free agent that you were before.

I am not aware that any community has a right to force another to be civilized.

Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.

Our country is that spot to which our heart is bound.

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.

The overwhelming importance of the atmosphere means that there are no longer any frontiers to defend against pollution, attack, or propaganda. It means, further, that only by a deep patriotic devotion to one’s country can there be a hope of the kind of protection of the whole planet, which is necessary for the survival of the people of other countries.

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what they are going to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.

We shall soon be in a world in which a man may be howled down for saying that two and two make four, in which people will persecute the heresy of calling a triangle a three-sided figure, and hang a man for maddening a mob with the news that grass is green.

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.

They fear love because it creates a world they can't control.

Liberty only survives when it is defended.

It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. . . . I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it.

Racial discrimination is not a permissible solution... that can only weaken the principle of equality embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Equal Protection Clause.

Never cross a man, not afraid to die.

No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way harmed, nor will we go upon him nor will we send upon him, except by the legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.

If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace, and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty.