The 250^th Celebration of Independence Day
250 American Freedom Quotes

Here are 250 American freedom quotes beginning with the Founding Fathers, U.S. Presidents, women leaders, activists, and public figures who shaped American ideas of liberty, rights, and independence. It includes the voices of Black Americans, immigrants, Native Voices and civil rights leaders who speak directly about dignity and justice. Many of the quotes below are among the most widely cited freedom quotations in American public life.

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The 250 American Freedom Quotes is a project of We The People of 305

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250 Quotes on Freedom and Democracy in America

“The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.”  —   George Washington

“The Constitution protects future generations.”  — Sandra Day O’Connor

“The basis of our political systems is the rights of the people.”  —  George Washington

“Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker.”
— John Adams

“Without virtue, there can be no political liberty.” — John Adams

“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

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

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” — Benjamin Franklin

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” — Benjamin Franklin

“Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.” — Benjamin Franklin

“To be more safe they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.” — Alexander Hamilton

“Give me liberty, or give me death!” — Patrick Henry

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.” — Patrick Henry

“Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The course of history shows us that as a government grows, liberty decreases.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Freedom is lost gradually from an uninterested, uninformed, and uninvolved people.” — Thomas Jefferson

“When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” — Thomas Jefferson

“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.” — Thomas Jefferson

“Can the liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people, that these liberties are a gift from God?” — Thomas Jefferson

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” — Thomas Jefferson

“I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” — Thomas Jefferson

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” — Abraham Lincoln

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” — Abraham Lincoln

“Freedom is the last, best hope of earth.” — Abraham Lincoln

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” — James Madison

“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands … may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” — James Madison

“The means of defense against foreign danger have been always the instruments of tyranny at home.” — James Madison

“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.” — James Madison

“All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.” — James Madison

“Power over a man’s subsistence is power over his will.” — Alexander Hamilton

“No power on earth has a right to take our property from us without our consent.” — John Jay

“Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression.” — James Wilson

“Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness.” — James Wilson

“The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.” — Patrick Henry

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel.” — Patrick Henry

“Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual.” — John Hancock

“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards.” — Samuel Adams

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom … go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms.” — Samuel Adams

“A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy.” — Samuel Adams

“A free people claim their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.” — Thomas Paine

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” — Thomas Paine

“Freedom hath no greater enemy than licentiousness.” — John Locke

“The liberties of a nation are secure only when the people truly understand their rights.” — John Adams

“The preservation of liberty is a constant duty.” — George Washington

“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” — attributed to Thomas Jefferson, though attribution is debated

“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government.” — John Adams

“Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker.” — John Adams

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.” — John Adams

“Without virtue, there can be no political liberty.” — John Adams

“Freedom is a plant of slow growth.” — George Washington

“Citizenship is the foundation of democracy.”     –  Thomas Jefferson

“Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.” — George Washington

“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” — Thomas Jefferson

“I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.” — Thomas Jefferson

“When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” — Thomas Jefferson

“It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand.” – Apache People

“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.” — Thomas Jefferson

“A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.” — Thomas Jefferson

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” —  Thomas Jefferson

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” — Benjamin Franklin

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

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.” — Benjamin Franklin

“Freedom is not bestowed; it is earned by the people.” — James Madison

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” — James Madison

“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands … may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” — James Madison

“The means of defense against foreign danger have been always the instruments of tyranny at home.” — James Madison

“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.” — James Madison

“A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive, will not long be safe companions to liberty.” — James Madison

“Power ought to be so distributed and balanced among several bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits, without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.” — James Madison

“The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.” — George Washington

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” — George Washington

“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.” — George Washington

“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined.” — George Washington

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.” — Patrick Henry

“Give me liberty, or give me death!” — Patrick Henry

“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards.” — Samuel Adams

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace.” — Samuel Adams

“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

“The liberties of the people are in no danger from a few men of letters.” — John Adams

“The best security against revolution is freedom.” — John Adams

“The Constitution will never be a complete answer to the question of liberty.” — John Quincy Adams

“Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions, and her prayers be.” — John Quincy Adams

“The fundamental principle of the republican system, is the sovereignty of the people.” — Andrew Jackson

“The union of our States is consummated as a nation, and the independence and freedom of all will be secured.” — Andrew Jackson

“No free government can stand without virtue.” — Andrew Jackson

“The liberties of the people can never be secure until the Constitution is made to mean something.” — Martin Van Buren

“The best government is that which governs least.” — generally attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but popular in presidential tradition

“The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty is finally staked on the hands of the American people.” — James Monroe

“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us.” — Woodrow Wilson

“Liberty doesn’t make all men equal; liberty makes all men free.” — Woodrow Wilson

“If you want to make enemies, try to change something.” — Woodrow Wilson

“The promise of America belongs to everyone.”   –  Kamala Harris

“America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” — Harry S. Truman

“We must find strength in our differences, and no one who wants to work hard to make this country better should ever be denied the opportunity to do so.” — John F. Kennedy

“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.” — John F. Kennedy

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” — John F. Kennedy

“The same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe.” — John F. Kennedy

“Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” — John F. Kennedy

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.” — John F. Kennedy

“The quality of our lives depends not on whether or not we have problems, but on how we deal with them.” — Lyndon B. Johnson

“The great society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents.” — Lyndon B. Johnson

“The challenge of the next century is to find the liberty and equality of our human spirit.” — Jimmy Carter

“Our commitment to human rights must be absolute.” — Jimmy Carter

“America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, human rights invented America.” — Jimmy Carter

“The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it.” — Jimmy Carter

“The absence of mobility in the American system is a denial of freedom.” — Jimmy Carter

“The future will belong to the free.” — Ronald Reagan

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” — Ronald Reagan

“When we show respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.”  – Arapaho People

“Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.” — Ronald Reagan

“We are a nation that has a government — not the other way around.” — Ronald Reagan

“Man is not free unless government is limited.”
 — Ronald Reagan

“As Americans, we know that freedom is as much a part of us as our blood.” — Ronald Reagan

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” — Ronald Reagan

“Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things.” — Ronald Reagan

“If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to.” — Ronald Reagan

“There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.” — Ronald Reagan

“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” — Ronald Reagan

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time.”  –   Mark Twain

“Patriotism demands responsibility.”   – Barack Obama

“The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation.” – Jimmy Carter

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Leadership is measured through service.”  –  Colin Powell

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” — often quoted from FDR-era public remarks

“The essence of America is freedom.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America.” — George W. Bush

“America is a nation with a mission.” — George W. Bush

“We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.” — George W. Bush

“The freedom we prize is not America’s gift to the world; it is God’s gift to humanity.” — George W. Bush

“Freedom is the most powerful force for peace on earth.” — George W. Bush

“The advance of human freedom is the calling of our time.” — George W. Bush

“A free nation is a nation that respects the dignity and rights of all its citizens.” — Barack Obama

“Freedom is not merely the absence of oppression, but the presence of opportunity.” — Barack Obama

“Our destiny is not written for us, but by us.” — Barack Obama

“The United States is, and always will be, a nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” — Ronald Reagan

“Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.” — Ronald Reagan

“Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Liberty is a thing to be fought for.” — Theodore Roosevelt

“A far better and safer plan is to have a broad foundation of independence and self-reliance.” — Theodore Roosevelt

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“A woman is like a tea bag — you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“There is no greater aggrandizement than to serve your fellow man.” — Abigail Adams

“Remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.” — Abigail Adams

“We have too many high-sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.” — Abigail Adams

“If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion.” — Abigail Adams

“Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” — Abigail Adams

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.”  – Harvey Milk

“The vote remains democracy’s strongest tool.” –  Stacy Abrams

“Democracy is renewed with each generation.”  – John Lewis

“You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I’ll rise.” — Maya Angelou

“If you’re always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” — Maya Angelou

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” — Gloria Steinem

“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” — Gloria Steinem

“We have begun to raise daughters more like sons… but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.” — Gloria Steinem

“It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America.”  – Molly Ivins

“Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” — Toni Morrison

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the stuff that weighs you down.” — Toni Morrison

“The thing about democracy, beloved, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion.”  – Molly Ivins

“The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.” — Mary McCarthy

“The vote is precious.” – John Lewis

“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” — Audre Lorde

“The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” — Audre Lorde

“Justice should remain blind to privilege.”  – Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” — Shirley Chisholm

“Service is the rent you pay for room on this earth.” — Shirley Chisholm

“I am, and always will be, a catalyst for change.” — Shirley Chisholm

“Democracy requires hard work.” – Nancy Pelosi

“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” — Michelle Obama

“When they go low, we go high.” — Michelle Obama

“Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.” — Michelle Obama

“Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down.” — Michelle Obama

“Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” — Michelle Obama

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker

“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” — Ida B. Wells

“Justice requires fairness under the law.”  – Sonia Sotomayor

“The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.” — Ida B. Wells

“Lifting as we climb.” — Mary Church Terrell

“No self-respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party who ignores her sex.” – Susan B. Anthony

“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” — Fannie Lou Hamer

“I am tired of being sick and tired.” — Fannie Lou Hamer

“I had to fight to become the woman I am today.” — Aretha Franklin

“Freedom is… the right to write the wrong words.” — Patti Smith

“You don’t have to be a man to be brave.” — Amelia Earhart

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” — Martin Luther King Jr

“The Constitution survives through active citizens.”  – Sandra Day O’Connor

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” — Martin Luther King Jr

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” — Martin Luther King Jr

 “The time is always right to do what is right.” — Martin Luther King Jr

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” — Martin Luther King Jr

“Power concedes nothing without a demand.” — Frederick Douglass

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” — Frederick Douglass

“Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.” — Frederick Douglass

“The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle.” — Frederick Douglass

 “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” — Audre Lorde

“I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.” — Audre Lorde

“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.” — Audre Lorde

“When I liberate myself, I liberate others.” — Fannie Lou Hamer

“You can pray until you faint, but unless you get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap.” — Fannie Lou Hamer

“Whether you have a right to sit at a table or not, if you don’t sit there, you don’t get any room.” — Fannie Lou Hamer

“I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.” — Rosa Parks

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.” — Rosa Parks

“Each person must live their life as a model for others.” — Rosa Parks

“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” — Rosa Parks

“I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move.” — Rosa Parks

“Ultimately, America’s answer to the intolerant man is diversity.” – Robert Kennedy

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Fighting for equality and freedom is not a spectator sport.” — Shirley Chisholm

“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining.” — Shirley Chisholm

“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” — Ida B. Wells

“The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.” — Ida B. Wells

“One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap.” — Ida B. Wells

“The most effective way to do it, it is to it.”    Amelia Earhart

“It is a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done.”   –  Harriet Beecher Stowe

“There are no people more patriotic than those who live the values of liberty and justice every day.” — Mary McLeod Bethune

“Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift.” — A. Philip Randolph

“At the end of the race, you are still a winner if you have fought for justice.” — Jesse Owens

“Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” — Dr. Mae Jemison

“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” — W.E.B. Du Bois

“Public office is public trust.” – Grover Cleveland

“The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen.” – Albert Einstein

“One person can make a difference.”  – Robert F Kennedy    

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  –  Abraham Lincoln

“Political freedom strengthens human dignity.”  – Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The buck stops here.”  – Harry Truman

“Well, that’s what America is all about: freedom, tolerance, each different religious and racial group looking out for the rights of the other.” — Ronald Reagan

The 250^th Celebration of Independence Day

The 250 American Freedom Quotes is a project of We The People of 305

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