Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; but if a thing is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach.
A well governed appetite is the greater part of liberty.
- Topic: Liberty
- Photo: Jeffrey Benjamin
More Quotes from Marcus Aurelius
A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.
What we do now echoes in eternity.
The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.
Think of what you have rather than of what you lack. Of the things you have, select the best and then reflect how eagerly you would have sought them if you did not have them.
More on Liberty
In order to enjoy the inestimable benefits that the liberty of the press ensures, it is necessary to submit to the inevitable evils that it creates.
Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself.
Never exceed your rights, and they will soon become unlimited.
Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defence.
Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless or corrupt.
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.
Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burned women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.
I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.
I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.
The period is now arrived, in which either they or we must change our sentiments, or one or both must fall.