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!

I am a true laborer: I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of other men’s good, content with my harm.

The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.

When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.

Irrevocable commitments that offer loopholes, not bail-out provisions, and no parachute clauses will extract incredible productivity and performance.

I dream, I test my dreams against my beliefs, I dare to take risks, and I execute my vision to make those dreams come true.

I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got.

O beautiful for spacious skies, For Amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.

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

Statism needs war; a free country does not. Statism survives by looting; a free country survives by producing.

You cannot possibly have a broader basis for any government than that which includes all the people, with all their rights in their hands, and with an equal power to maintain their rights.

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

It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.

I did not seek greatness. I only sought to fulfill my duties.

There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November.

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.

Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.

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.

If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution—certainly would if such a right were a vital one.

The welfare of the people has always been the alibi of tyrants.

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.

A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.

When one remains silent in the face of oppression, one is on the side of the oppressor.

Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence.

A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country.

Never cross a man, not afraid to die.

What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.

Either you will control your government, or government will control you.

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

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

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.