I could not understand how any man could be so brutalized as to claim the right to dispose of the lives of others, nor how any man could be so lacking in self-esteem as to grant to others the right to dispose of his life.

Never cross a man, not afraid to die.

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.

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 prefer liberty with danger than peace with slavery.

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.

Since men are neither omniscient nor infallible, they must be free to agree or disagree, to cooperate or to pursue their own independent course, each according to his own rational judgment. Freedom is the fundamental requirement of man's mind.

The period is now arrived, in which either they or we must change our sentiments, or one or both must fall.

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most impressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be saturated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to allow his vision wherever it takes him.

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

Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without; for much knowledge is a curse.