It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry… - Patrick Henry

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It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, peace! But there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? 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 death!

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Patrick Henry

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About Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry (29 May 1736 – 6 June 1799) was an American attorney, planter and politician who became known as an orator during the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A U.S. Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia, from 1776 to 1779 and from 1784 to 1786. Henry led the opposition to the Stamp Act 1765 and is remembered for the "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech attributed to him. Along with Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, he is regarded as one of the most influential champions of Republicanism and an invested promoter of the American Revolution and its fight for independence.

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Abraham Lincoln Thomas Jefferson George Washington John Adams Samuel Adams

Additional quotes by Patrick Henry

[Patrick Henry] wanted the Constitution to have a Bill of Rights attached to it — a list of powers that the government could never use against the people of the United States.

Show me that age and country where the rights and liberties of the people were placed on the sole chance of their rulers being good men, without a consequent loss of liberty?

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active the brave.

It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, peace! But there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweep… - Patrick Henry

About Patrick Henry

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