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Independence Quotes

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Independence Quotes

“Surely, if it is the right of the people to "alter or abolish," it is their right to criticize, even severely, policies they believe destructive of the ends for which government has been established. This principle, in the Declaration of Independence, suggests that true patriotism lies in supporting the values the country is supposed to cherish: equality, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. When our government compromises, undermines, or attacks those values, it is being unpatriotic.”

Source: A Power Governments Cannot Suppress

“It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?”

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Author:Chris Gardner

“Nothing is more precious than Independence and Liberty.”

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Author:Ho Chi Minh

“Old or young, healthy as a horse or a person with a disability that hasn't kept you down, man or woman, Native American, native born, immigrant, straight or gay - whatever; the test ought to be I believe in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. I believe in religious liberty. I believe in freedom of speech. I believe in working hard and playing by the rules. I'm showing up for work tomorrow. I'm building that bridge to the 21st century. That ought to be the test.”

Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1995

“Man has lost the basic skill of the ape, the ability to scratch its back. Which gave it extraordinary independence, and the liberty to associate for reasons other than the need for mutual back-scratching.”

Men Needs Reason Lost Ability Liberty Evolution Skills Independence Extraordinary Mutual Associates Scratches Apes Evolution Of Man

Book:Cool memories

Source: Cool memories

“If ever there was a holy war, it was that which saved our liberties and gave us independence.”

Ifs War Liberty Holy Independence Saved Total War Holy War

Book:Light and Liberty: Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness

Source: Light and Liberty: Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness

“Nothing is more disgusting than the crowing about liberty by slaves, as most men are, and the flippant mistaking for freedom of some paper preamble like a Declaration of Independence, or the statute right to vote, by those who have never dared to think or to act.”

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Book:The Spiritual Emerson: Essential Works by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Source: The Spiritual Emerson: Essential Works by Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Artists have no less talents than ever, their taste, their vision, their sentiment are often interesting; they are mighty in their independence and feeble only in their works.”

Artist Freedom Interesting Liberty Vision Talent Taste Independence Sentiments

Book:Winds of Doctrine: Studies in Contemporary Opinion

Source: Winds of Doctrine: Studies in Contemporary Opinion

“The experience of the United States is a happy disproof of the error so long rooted in the unenlightened minds of well meaning Christians, as well as in the corrupt hearts of persecuting Usurpers, that without a legal incorporation of religious and civil polity, neither could be supported. A mutual independence is found most friendly to practical Religion, to social harmony, and to political prosperity.”

Source: The forging of American federalism: selected writings of James Madison

“Outside Independence Hall when the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, "A republic, if you can keep it."”

Ifs Wells Liberty Doctors Independence Halls Republic Conventions Monarchy Hesitation Franklin Philadelphia Constitutional Convention

Author:Benjamin Franklin

“English character and English freedom depend comparatively little on the form which the Constitution assumes at Westminster. A centralised democracy may be as tyrannical as an absolute monarch; and if the vigour of the nation is to continue unimpaired, each individual, each family, each district, must preserve as far as possible its independence, its self-completeness, its powers and its privilege to manage its own affairs and think its own thoughts.”

Source: Short Studies on Great Subjects: Second series

“I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring from the Declaration of Independence 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.”

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Author:Abraham Lincoln

“Not far from here where we gather today is a symbol of freedom familiar to all Americans -- the Liberty Bell. When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public, the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, and a witness said: "It rang as if it meant something."”

Ifs Firsts Said Today Freedom Liberty Independence Familiar Symbols Witness Celebration Bells Declaration Declaration Of Independence Liberty Bell

Author:George W. Bush

“I ask you...to adopt the principles proclaimed by yourselves, by your revolutionary fathers, and by the old bell in Independence Hall.”

Asks Father Freedom Liberty Principles Independence Revolutionary Halls Bells

Author:Frederick Douglass

“America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She well knows that by enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standards of freedom.”

“The ability to provide choices and the right to make choices that prove not detrimental, are the fundamental ingredients of free trade and independence.”

Choices Freedom Ability Liberty Prove Independence Fundamentals Trade Ingredients Free Trade Detrimental

Author:John Truman Stoddert

“On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are created jerks.”

“Those who won our independence believed that the final end of the state was to make men free to develop their faculties... They valued liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty... that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government.”

“Democracies have been, and governments called, free; but the spirit of independence and the consciousness of unalienable rights, were never before transfused into the minds of a whole people....The feeling of equality which they proudly cherish does not proceed from an ignorance of their station, but from the knowledge of their rights; and it is this knowledge which will render it so exceedingly difficult for any tyrant ever to triumph over the liberties of our country.”

Source: Ladies' Magazine

“Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and capacity, if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence.”

Ifs America Suffering Forget Liberty Blood Youth Blessing Capacity Independence Property Noble Peaceful Enjoyment Never Forget Ancestor Toil Inheritance Posterity Guarded American Youth

Author:Joseph Story

“As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor;-let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the character of his own, and his children's liberty.”

Source: Abraham Lincoln, a Documentary Portrait Through His Speeches and Writings

“The people of the U.S. owe their Independence & their liberty, to the wisdom of descrying in the minute tax of 3 pence on tea, the magnitude of the evil comprized in the precedent. Let them exert the same wisdom, in watching agst every evil lurking under plausible disguises, and growing up from small beginnings.”

People Evil Liberty Growing Up Growing Minutes Taxes Independence Tea Disguise Taxation Magnitude Precedent Plausible Lurking Small Beginnings

Author:James Madison

“[America's] glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind. She has a spear and a shield: but the motto upon her shield is Freedom, Independence, Peace. This has been her declaration: this has been, as far as her necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind would permit, her practice.”

Mind Has Beens America Liberty Practice Mankind Policy Glory Independence March Permit Foreign Policy Declaration Motto Shields Intercourse Dominion Spears

Book:John Quincy Adams and American continental empire: letters, papers and speeches

Source: John Quincy Adams and American continental empire: letters, papers and speeches

“The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of these United States are covenants we have made not only with ourselves, but with all mankind. Our founding documents proclaim to the world that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few. It is the universal right of all God's children.”

Source: A Shining City: The Legacy of Ronald Reagan

“The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize.”

People Real Home Government Liberty Support Republican Safety Independence Unity Dear Prosperity Prize Tranquility Pillars Edifice Farewell Address Republican Government

Book:Washington's Farewell Address to the People of the United States

Source: Washington's Farewell Address to the People of the United States

“In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men - yes, black men as well as white men - would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness... America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'”

“He gave me a copy of The Declaration of Independence, then he got a tattoo that says Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death. I think my boyfriend wants his freedom.”

Thinking Want Giving Liberty Humorous Give Me Independence Copies Tattoo Declaration Declaration Of Independence My Boyfriend

Author:Randy Glasbergen

“A superfluity of wealth, and a train of domestic slaves, naturally banish a sense of general liberty, and nourish the seeds of that kind of independence that usually terminates in aristocracy.”

Kind Wealth Liberty Independence Train Slave Seeds Aristocracy

Author:Mercy Otis Warren

“Tree of Liberty: A tree set up by the people, hung with flags and devices, and crowned with a cap of liberty. The Americans of the United States planted poplars and other trees during the war of independence, "as symbols of growing freedom." The Jacobins in Paris planted their first tree of liberty in 1790. The symbols used in France to decorate their trees of liberty were tricoloured ribbons, circles to indicate unity, triangles to signify equality, and a cap of liberty. Trees of liberty were planted by the Italians in the revolution of 1848.”

“Throughout the day no time for memorandums now. Go ahead! Liberty and independence forever.”

Liberty Forever Independence Memorandum

Book:A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett ...

Source: A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett ...

“Make no mistake; the American Revolution was not fought to obtain freedom, but to preserve the liberties that Americans already had as colonials. Independence was no conscious goal, secretly nurtured in cellar or jungle by bearded conspirators, but a reluctant last resort, to preserve "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."”

Life Lasts Goal Mistake Liberty Revolution Conscious Independence Pursuit Preserves Jungle Resorts Pursuit Of Happiness Reluctant American Revolution Cellars Conspirators Life Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness

Book:The Oxford history of the American people

Source: The Oxford history of the American people

“The Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings and successes.”

Suffering Common Effort Liberty Danger Independence Presidential Joints Farewell Address Joint Efforts

Author:George Washington

“Lucifer represents life, though, progress, civilization, liberty, independence. Lucifer is the Logos, the Serpent, the Savior.”

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Author:H. P. Blavatsky

“Let no man dare, when I am dead. to charge me with dishonor; let no man attaint my memory by believing that I could have engaged in any cause but that of my country's liberty and independence, or that I could have become the pliant minion of power in the oppression or the miseries of my countrymen.”

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Book:Irish Eloquence: The Speeches of the Celebrated Irish Orators: Phillips, Curran and Grattan, to which is Added the Powerful Appeal of Robert Emmett, at the Close of His Trial for High Treason

Source: Irish Eloquence: The Speeches of the Celebrated Irish Orators: Phillips, Curran and Grattan, to which is Added the Powerful Appeal of Robert Emmett, at the Close of His Trial for High Treason

“Away with the idea of getting independence first, and looking for liberty afterwards... Our liberties, once lost, may be lost forever.”

Firsts May Ideas Lost Liberty Forever Independence

Author:Alexander H. Stephens

“What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence? It is not...the guns of our war steamers, or the strength of our gallant and disciplined army...our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in our bosoms...”

War Liberty Gun Army Independence Reliance Bosoms Freedom And Liberty Gallant Civic Minded

Author:Abraham Lincoln

“No one can be free unless he is independent. Therefore, the first active manifestations of the child's individual liberty must be so guided that through this activity he may arrive at independence.”

Firsts May Children Individual Liberty Activity Independent Independence Active Manifestation Individual Liberty Practical Life

Book:The Montessori Method: The Origins of an Educational Innovation : Including an Abridged and Annotated Edition of Maria Montessori's The Montessori Method

Source: The Montessori Method: The Origins of an Educational Innovation : Including an Abridged and Annotated Edition of Maria Montessori's The Montessori Method

“Freedom is the oxygen of the soul.”

Source: Moshe Dayan: Story of My Life

“Liberty sets the mind free, fosters independence and unorthodox thinking and ideas. But it does not offer instant prosperity or happiness and wealth to everyone.”

Thinking Mind Doe Ideas Happiness Wealth Liberty Offers Independence Prosperity Instant Unorthodox Mind Free

Author:Boris Yeltsin

“A man is an island, but the water is deep And the shore on the other side is ragged and steep To look for perfection is a lonely old ride It takes a whole lot of courage and a whole lot of pride When you look for independence and you get what you want How come you look back, thinking what have I done? But time and again, it dawns on me It's the price we pay for liberty I should have know, we all need a place to call home”

Thinking Knows Men Want Needs Should Looks Done Whole Home Song Sides Water Pay Liberty Pride Perfection Lonely Should Have Independence What You Want Dawn Islands Shore Steep Ragged

Author:Joey Tempest

“Everyone talks about religious liberty, but no one believes it. So let us be blunt about it: we must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political, and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God.”

“Unless the people, through unified action, arise and take charge of their government, they will find that their government has taken charge of them. Independence and liberty will be gone, and the general public will find itself in a condition of servitude to an aggregation of organized and selfish interest.”

People Government Action Interest Liberty Gone Taken Conditions Independence Selfish Arise Organized Servitude Unified General Public Selfish Interest

Author:Calvin Coolidge

“Before the formation of this Constitution it had been affirmed as a self evident truth, in the Declaration of Independence, very deliberately made by the Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled that 'all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights' This declaration of Independence was received and ratified by all the States in the Union & has never been disannuled. May we not from hence conclude, that the doctrine of Liberty and Equality is an article in the political creed of the United States.”

“I am now-the friend of the equal rights of men, of representative democracy, of republicanism and the Declaration of Independence, the great charter of our national rights; and of course the friend of the indissoluble union and Constitution of the states. I am the enemy of all foreign influence, for all foreign influence is the influence of tyranny. This is the only chosen spot of liberty-this is the only republic on earth." "Live Free Or Die; Death Is Not The Worst Of Evils.”

“What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence? It is not our frowning battlements, our bristling sea coasts, our army and our navy... Our reliance is in the love of liberty which God has planted in us. Our defense is in the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism at your own doors... You have lost the genius of your own independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you.”

Men Firsts Spirit Lost Liberty Doors Sea Land Subjects Genius Fit Army Independence Seeds Defense Heritage Tyrants Coast Navy Cunning Reliance Despotism Frowning

Author:Abraham Lincoln

“In its main features the Declaration of Independence is a great spiritual document. It is a declaration not of material but of spiritual conceptions. Equality, liberty, popular sovereignty, the rights of man - these are not elements which we can see and touch. They are ideals. They have their source and their roots in the religious convictions. They belong to the unseen world. Unless the faith of the American people in these religious convictions is to endure, the principles of our Declaration will perish. We can not continue to enjoy the result if we neglect and abandon the cause.”

“So goes America in terms of freedom, so goes the rest of the world. And so that document [Declaration of Independence] I would argue is the foundational document for freedom not just for America but for freedom around the world.”

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Author:Randy Forbes

“Today 25 million Texans can celebrate our liberty, and honor the founding generation of Texans who secured it for us. Happy Texas Independence Day, and God Bless Texas.”

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Author:John Cornyn

“Liberty is the result of free individual action,energy and independence.”

Action Individual Energy Results Liberty Independence

Book:Self-help: With Illustrations of Character and Conduct

Source: Self-help: With Illustrations of Character and Conduct

“America was founded on the principle of inalienable rights, not dictated duties. The Declaration of Independence states that every human being has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It does not state that he is born a slave to the needs of others.”