Patrick Henry

"We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? ... For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it."

- Patrick Henry, "Give me Liberty or Give Me Death", March 23, 1775.

 

John Hancock

"Some boast of being friends to government; I am a friend to righteous government, to a government founded upon the principles of reason and justice; but I glory in publicly avowing my eternal enmity to tyranny."

- John Hancock, March 5, 1774, Oration on the Anniversary of the Boston Massacre of 1770

Samuel Adams

"Courage, then, my countrymen, our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty."

- Samuel Adams, "American Independence," Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia, August 1, 1776

George Washington

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."

- George Washington, First President of the United States, speech to both Houses of Congress, Jan. 8, 1790

James Madison

"Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. ... In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself."

- James Madison, Federalist Papers, number 51

Thomas Jefferson

"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"

- Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Franklin

""Idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings and parliaments. If we can get rid of the former, we may easily bear the latter. "

- Benjamin Franklin, Letter on the Stamp Act, July 1, 1765