England may as well dam up the waters of the Nile with bulrushes
as to fetter the step of read more

England may as well dam up the waters of the Nile with bulrushes
as to fetter the step of Freedom, more proud and firm in this
youthful land than where she treads the sequestered glens of
Scotland, or couches herself among the magnificent mountains of
Switzerland.
- Mrs. Lydia Maria Child,

Once freedom lights its beacon in a man's heart, the gods are powerless against him.

Once freedom lights its beacon in a man's heart, the gods are powerless against him.

We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified.

We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified.

It is a talent of the weak to persuade themselves that they suffer for something when they suffer from something; read more

It is a talent of the weak to persuade themselves that they suffer for something when they suffer from something; that they are showing the way when they are running away; that they see the light when they feel the heat; that they are chosen when they are shunned.

I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also read more

I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free.

Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better.

Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better.

The shy man does have some slight revenge upon society for the torture it inflicts upon him. He is able, read more

The shy man does have some slight revenge upon society for the torture it inflicts upon him. He is able, to a certain extent, to communicate his misery. He frightens other people as much as they frighten him. He acts like a damper upon the whole room, and the most jovial spirits become, in his presence, depressed and nervous.

For Freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeath'd by bleeding sire to son,
Though baffled oft is ever won.

For Freedom's battle once begun,
Bequeath'd by bleeding sire to son,
Though baffled oft is ever won.

The man who will follow precedent, but never create one, is merely an obvious example of the routineer. You find read more

The man who will follow precedent, but never create one, is merely an obvious example of the routineer. You find him desperately numerous in the civil service, in the official bureaus. To him government is something given as unconditionally, as absolutely as ocean or hill. He goes on winding the tape that he finds. His imagination has rarely extricated itself from under the administrative machine to gain any sense of what a human, temporary contraption the whole affair is. What he thinks is the heavens above him is nothing but the roof.