“Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the…” Patrick Henry

I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Speech to the Second Virginia Convention, St. John’s Church, Richmond (23 March 1775), as given in William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (1817). Nothing was written down at the time: Wirt rebuilt the speech from listeners’ recollections four decades later, so how much of the wording is Henry’s is disputed
- Liberty
Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.
Speech on the Federal Constitution, Virginia Ratifying Convention (5 June 1788)
- Liberty
The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.
Speech on the Federal Constitution, Virginia Ratifying Convention (Monday, 9 June 1788), as contained in The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution: Volume 3, ed. Jonathan Elliot, published by the editor
- Government