“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?” — Patrick Henry · Speech to the Virginia Convention, 1775
“Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.” — George Washington · Letter, 1788
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” — Thomas Jefferson · Letter to William Stephens Smith, 1787
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” — Thomas Jefferson · Declaration of Independence, 1776
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” — Martin Luther King Jr. · Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” — Benjamin Franklin · 1755