“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” — Benjamin Franklin · Pennsylvania Assembly reply to the Governor, 1755
“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it.” — John F. Kennedy · Address to the nation, 1962
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” — Nelson Mandela · Long Walk to Freedom, 1994
“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