Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.

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 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.

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

Never exceed your rights, and they will soon become unlimited.

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 right of conquest has no foundation other than the right of the strongest.

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.

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

Let us remind ourselves that it is ordinary people – men and women, boys and girls – that make the world a special place.

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 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 are so used to special treatment that equal treatment is considered to be discrimination.

If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly two be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.

You cannot subsidize irresponsibility and expect people to become more responsible.

If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time, or die by suicide.

Only when we realize that there is no eternal, unchanging truth or absolute truth can we arouse in ourselves a sense of intellectual responsibility.

The aim of art, the aim of a life can only be to increase the sum of freedom and responsibility to be found in every man and in the world. It cannot, under any circumstances, be to reduce or suppress that freedom, even temporarily.

I never encounter anything except my responsibility.

You and only you are responsible for your life choices and decisions.

We know of no culture that has said, articulately, that there is no difference between men and women except in the way they contribute to the creation of the next generation.

Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself.

Men who reject the responsibility of thought and reason can only exist as parasites on the thinking of others.

Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will - his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals.

Champions take responsibility. When the ball is coming over the net, you can be sure I want the ball.

The resources, advantages, and the powers of the American people are very great, and they have, consequently, succeed to equally great responsibilities.