"Men of learning find nothing new in it; men of taste many things to criticise; and men without either, not a few things which they will not understand. It will, nevertheless, be read and praised, and become a powerful engine in forming the public opinion."—Madison.
"Stick to the bill: it is your Magna Charta and your Runnymede. King John made a present to the barons. King William has made a similar present to you. Never mind, common qualities good in common times. If a man does not vote for the bill he is unclean; the plague-spot is upon him: push him into the lazaretto of the last century, with Wetherell and Sadler; purify the air before you approach him; bathe your hands in chloride of lime if you have been contaminated by his touch."—Sydney Smith.
"With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right."—Lincoln.
"Yesterday you wiped the tears from our eyes, that we might see clearly; you unstopped our ears, that we might hear; and removed the obstructions from our throats, that we might speak distinctly."—Red Jacket.
"Republicanism says to every man: 'Let your soul be like an eagle; fly out in the great dome of thought, and question the stars for yourself.'"—Ingersoll.
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed."—St. Luke.
"They were not slaves, rising in desperation from beneath the agonies of the lash, but free men, snuffing from afar the tainted gale of tyranny."—Everett.
"Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely above all liberties."—Sumner.
"Hear me for my cause."—Shakespeare.
"We shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England as, I trust, shall never be put out."—Latimer.
