“For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
In honour of The U.S.’s 242nd anniversary of independence, and Canada’s 151st, and in keeping with the associated fireworks and family gatherings, a couple of quotes from some people I admire.
Let us never forget what our forefathers so vigorously fought for: Freedom.
Including speech.
“We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls.” ~Robert J. McCracken
All we have of freedom, all we use or know —
This our fathers bought for us long and long ago.
~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899
“You have to love nations that celebrate their independence every July, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House [or Parliament Hill] in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.” ~Erma Bombeck
And let us not forget what is at stake, right now, on the world stage, especially in light of Supreme Court Justice Kennedy’s retirement:
“It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.” ~Samuel Adams
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” ~Martin Luther King Jr.
“Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance.” ~Woodrow Wilson
“Freedom lies in being bold.” ~Robert Frost
Freedom—yours—carries a cost: your voice.
Speak up when your freedom—inside and out—is at stake.
Be bold.
And honour the holiday for which our forefathers fought.
