Give me liberty...

Todays speech tidbits come from Patrick Henry, most famous for his line "Give me liberty, or give me death." The "Give me liberty…" speech was made in March 1775. Though the speech was directed at the oppression of Britain, it's quite fitting towards the illegal alien occupying the White House and his cronies, who like himself, hate the Constitution and are slowly taking our freedoms away one by one. So, Henry's speech, like Paine's, is quite appropriate.

With that said - here we go:

 
 

"If we wish to be free…we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!

…The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave...There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable - and let it come!

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace - but there is no peace. The war is actually begun!

…Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty G-d! I know not what course others may take - but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

 
 

Thomas Paine: The Crisis (1776)

"These are the times that try men's souls. That summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country: but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; 'tis dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated…

I call not upon a few, but upon all; not on this state or that state, but on every state; up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at state. Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it… 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death."

(Resource: "Words that Shaped American History" Webster's New World Dictionary with Student Handbook. 1973. p.111)