Kinship among nations is not determined in such measurements as proximity, size, and age. Rather, we should turn to those inner things, those intangibles that are the real treasures free men possess. To preserve his freedom of worship, his equality before the law, his liberty to speak and act as he sees fit, subject only [...]
Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace—but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me [...]
President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered the following speech to a Joint Session of the United States Congress on December 8, 1941, one day after the Empire of Japan's attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Though Roosevelt referred to December 7th as a "date which will live in infamy," the speech itself [...]
Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner." "Ich bin ein Berliner" is a speech by United States President John F. Kennedy given [...]
The Unanimous Declaration of Independence made by the Delegates of the People of Texas in General Convention at the Town of Washington on the 2nd day of March 1836 When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement [...]
Adams and Jefferson are no more. They are dead. But how little is there of the great and good which can die! To their country they yet live, and live for ever. Their stars have now joined the American Constellation. Beneath this illumination let us walk the course of life, and at its close devoutly [...]
Satire is of the nature of moral philosophy, as being instructive. It is undoubtedly a species of heroic poetry itself, finely mixing the majesty of the heroic with the venom, and raising the delight, which otherwise would be flat and vulgar, by the sublimity of the expression. Editor's Note: John Dryden's A Discourse on the [...]
Truth can seem harsh if unadorned, but with something pleasurable to recommend, it can penetrate more easily the minds of mortals. Pleasure is what catches a reader's attention and holds it when caught. Pleasure wins over all alike, unless someone is too stupid to be sensitive to the pleasures of the written word. What better [...]
Thomas Jefferson considered his authorship of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom one of his three greatest accomplishments; he dictated that his gravestone should acknowledge this fact next to his authorship of the Declaration of Independence and his founding of the University of Virginia. Drafted in 1777, the statute was first introduced into the Virginia [...]
Pope Julius II: "If you don't hurry up and open the gates, I'll unleash my thunderbolt of excommunication with which I used to terrify great kings on earth and their kingdoms too. You see, I've already got a bull prepared for the occasion."/ St. Peter: "Just tell me, please, what you mean by all this [...]
The foundations of our National policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality. There is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness. Fellow Citizens of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could [...]
Every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS, Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion [...]
The conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his farewell address to the nation in a television broadcast [...]
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. Friends and Citizens: The period for a [...]