Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; read more

Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them read more

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.

"The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our read more

"The liberties of our country, the freedoms of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring a mark of everlasting infamy on the present generation – enlightened as it is – if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of designing men." -Samuel Adams

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

The worst thing in this world, next to anarchy, is government.

The worst thing in this world, next to anarchy, is government.

That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.

That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.

In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to read more

In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to say, Like People like Government.

Everybody wants to eat at the government's table, but nobody wants to do the dishes.

Everybody wants to eat at the government's table, but nobody wants to do the dishes.

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.