Happy Fourth of July!!

Twelve of my favorite quotes on Freedom:


When people talk of the freedom of writing, speaking, or thinking, I cannot choose but laugh. No such thing ever existed. No such thing now exists; but I hope it will exist. But it must be hundreds of years after you and I shall write and speak no more.
~John Adams


Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.
~Benjamin Franklin


Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take but as for me; give me liberty or give me death!
~Patrick Henry


The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
~Edmund Burke


No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.
~Frederick Douglass


Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.
~Abraham Lincoln


The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.
~Lord Acton


It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.
~U.S. Supreme Court in American Communications Association v. Douds


My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular. ~Adlai Stevenson


The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
~John F. Kennedy


First, guard the freedom of ideas at all costs. Be alert that dictators have always played on the natural human tendency to blame others and to oversimplify. And don't regard yourself as a guardian of freedom unless you respect and preserve the rights of people you disagree with to free, public, unhampered expression.
~Gerard K. O'Neill


Abuse of power isn't limited to bad guys in other nations. It happens in our own country if we're not vigilant.
~Clint Eastwood


While eating a hot dog or watching fireworks today, take a second to reflect with gratitude on all who died to guarantee you the freedom you currently enjoy.

God bless our troops everywhere.