“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” — Thomas Jefferson · Declaration of Independence, 1776
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” — Martin Luther King Jr. · Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” — Benjamin Franklin · 1755
“If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost.” — Aristotle · Politics, Book VI, c. 350 BC
“I prefer liberty with danger to peace with slavery.” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau · The Social Contract, 1762