| For
which we stand: |
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| A
Lexicon of Liberty |
The
word "Liberty" was once universally understood as
the centerpiece of the American way of life. Its icons, most
notably The Statute of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, and the
Liberty Tree, are deeply embedded and interwoven into the
cultural and historical and political traditions of the United
States: The word "Liberty" was placed on every American
coin to proclaim its central importance for all time, so that
subsequent generations would always remember that it was Liberty
that defined our social and political nature and created a
climate in which the significant and unique achievements of
Americans became possible: It was placed there so that we
might ever remember the sacrifices and deaths of the many
brave patriots, of so many generations, to whom we owe our
Liberty.
However, the history of recent decades has been been a story
of the continual erosion of the personal Liberty and privacy
of Americans. That erosion has been so complete that few Americans
now ever ponder or consider the meaning of the word "Liberty".
Those who have chipped away at Liberty have always have seemed
to have some compelling reason for the destruction of one
more aspect of personal liberty and the further intrusion
of government control, regulation, and oversight in matters
long considered to be appropriate for personal choice and
privacy: The war on drugs, the war against terrorism, the
war against crime, or a compelling crusade to establish or
maintain someone's notion of morality by government force:
There always seems to be a compelling reason in the minds
of some to take away more of the basic freedoms and blessings
of Liberty.
In an era increasingly hostile to the notion that Liberty
is a positive good in its own right that needs no excuse,
it is fitting to remind ourselves of what our political and
societal forebears wished us to understand about Liberty.
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Proclaim
Liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. Lev.
XXVI: 10 |
| The
idea of Liberty has ultimately a religious root; that
is why men find it so easy to die for and so difficult
to define. G. K. Chesterton: A Miscellany of Men
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| Give
me Liberty or Give me death! Patrick Henry |
| Eternal
vigilance is the price of Liberty. Wendell Phillips,
1852. |
Liberty
will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves
to Liberty; it is a blessing that must be earned before it
can be enjoyed. Charles Calen Colton
We
shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support
any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the
success of Liberty. John F. Kennedy, Inauguration Speech,
1961
I
pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands, One Nation, under
God, with Liberty and Justice for All. Pledge of Allegiance
to the Flag.
Liberty
is not a matter of words, but a positive and important condition
of society. Its greatest safeguard after placing its foundations
on a popular base, is in the checks and balances imposed on
the public servants, and all its real friends ought to know
that the most insidious attacks are made on it by those who
are the largest trustees of authority, in their efforts to
increase their power. James Fenimore Cooper: The American
Democrat. On Distinctive American Principles.
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liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution,
are worth defending at all hazards; and 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, and transmitted them to us with
care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark
of 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 be cheated out of them
by the artifices of false and designing men. Samuel
Adams: Article, 1771. |
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The
history of civilized man is the history of the incessant conflict
between Liberty and authority. Charles T. Sprading, Introduction,
Liberty and the Great Libertarians.
Liberty
- not Communism - is the most contagious force in the world.
It will permeate the Iron Curtain. It will eventually abide
everywhere. For no people of any race will long remain slaves.
Our strength is in our diversity. Our power is in freedom
of thought and research. Earl Warren, Address, Columbia
University, 1954.
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The
only sure bulwark of continuing Liberty is a government
strong enough to protect the interests of the people,
and a people strong enough and well enough informed to
maintain its sovereign control over its government.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Fireside Chat, April
14, 1938 |
Liberty
exists in proportion to wholesome restraint; the more restraint
on others to keep off from us, the more liberty we have. Daniel
Webster, Speech, Charleston, S.C., May 10, 1847.
| Live
free or die. State Motto of New Hampshire
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Thomas
Alva Edison in San Franciso with the Liberty Bell Pan
American Exhibition, 1916 |
| Extremism
in the defense of Liberty is no vice. And let me remind
you that moderation in the pursuit of Justice is no
virtue. Senator Barry Goldwater, July 14, 1964
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| By
Liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected
in doing what he believes his duty against the influence
of authority and majorities, customs, and opinion. Lord
Acton, The History of Freedom in Antiquity, 1877. |
Liberty
has never come from government. Liberty has always come from
the subjects of government. The history of Liberty is the
history of resistance. . . The history of Liberty is a history
of the limitations of governmental power, not the increase
of it. . . When we resist . . . concentration of power, we
are resisting the powers of death, because concentration of
power is what always precedes the destruction of human liberties.
Woodrow Wilson, Address, New York Press Club, May 9, 1912.
The
condition upon which God hath given Liberty to man is eternal
vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude, is at once
the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.
John Philpot Curran, Speech upon the Right of Election
of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, July 10, 1790.
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Freedom
of thought and freedom of speech in our great institutions
of learning are absolutely necessary for the preservation
of our country. The moment that either is restricted,
Liberty begins to wither and die and the career of a
nation after that time is downwards. Illinois Governor
John Peter Altgeld: to George H. Shipley, September
25, 1897.
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It
behooves every man who values Liberty of conscience for
himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others.
Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Dr. Rush,1803. |
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He
who opposes the public Liberty overthrows his own. William
Lloyd Garrison, William Lloyd Garrison: The History
of His Life. |
It
is a common observation here [Paris] that our cause is the
cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their Liberty
in defending our own. Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Samuel
Cooper, 1777.
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Experience
should teach us to be most on our guard to protect Liberty
when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born
to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of
their liberty by evil minded rulers. The greatest dangers
to Liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of
zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. Louis
D. Brandeis, dissenting,
Olmstead v. U.S. 277 US 438 (1928)
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Men
fight for Liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their
children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor
fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.
D. H. Lawrence. |
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The
true danger is, when Liberty is nibbled away, for expedients,
and by parts. Edmund Burke. |
L'Arbe
de la Liberte' par le sang des tyrants. Bertrant Barere
de Vienzac, Speech, National Assembly, 1792
The
love of Liberty is the love of others; the love of power
is the love of ourselves. William Hazlitt, Political
Essays.
The
people never give up their liberties but under some
delusion. Edmund Burke, Speech, 1784. |
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| Liberty
and good government do not exclude each other; and there
are excellent reasons why they should go together. Liberty
is not a means to a higher end. It is itself the highest
political end. Lord Acton, The History of Freedom in
Antiquity, 1877. |
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And
ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming
liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant
before me in the house which is called by my name. Jer.
XXXIV:15
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