"They that can give up essential liberty to
obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
~ Benjamin Franklin,
Historical Review of
"We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their
Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments
are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute
new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety
and happiness."
~ Declaration of
"I would rather be exposed to the
inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a
degree of it."
~ Thomas
Jefferson to Archibald Stuart, 1791
"We
cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."
~Edward R. Murrow
"To those who pit Americans against
immigrants and citizens against noncitizens, to those who scare peace-loving
people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid
terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They
give ammunition to
~ Attorney General
John Ashcroft, Senate Testimony,
"You're free. And freedom is beautiful.
And, you know, it'll take time to restore chaos and order - order out of chaos.
But we will."
~
President George W. Bush