First principles

"He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."

~ Thomas Paine, A Dissertation on the First Principles of Government (1795)

Metaphors and traditions

"Half the people in the world think that the metaphors of their religious traditions, for example, are facts. And the other half contends that they are not facts at all. As a result we have people who consider themselves believers because they accept metaphors as facts, and we have others who classify themselves as atheists because they think religious metaphors are lies."

~ Joseph Campbell

If you enslave me, you'll never rescue yourself

"The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To invade it is to usurp the prerogative of Jehovah. Every man has a right to his own body - the products of his own labor - to the protection of law - and to the common advantages of society."

~ William Lloyd Garrison



"As long as I am an American citizen I shall hold myself free to speak, to write and publish whatever I please on any subject, holding myself amenable to the laws of my country for the same."

~ Elijah Lovejoy



"Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not so costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."

~ Winston Churchill