Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.
Interpretation
This quote expresses the desire for personal freedom and autonomy in various aspects of life.
Chief Joseph's quote reflects his yearning for freedom and the fundamental human rights that allow individuals to make their own choices, express their beliefs, and pursue their own paths. The declaration emphasizes the importance of personal autonomy in social, economic, and spiritual matters, highlighting that true obedience to laws comes from a place of freedom rather than oppression.
In practice
In a keynote speech on civil rights, this quote can emphasize the importance of personal freedoms.
We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that. We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that.
It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and the broken promises.
If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow.
The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.
All men were made by the Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers.
Our chiefs are killed. . . . The little children are freezing to death. . . . My people have no blankets, no food. . . . My heart is sick and sad. . . . I will fight no more forever.
If they hadn’t tried to break me down, I wouldn’t know that I’m unbreakable.
Again I admonish you not to be turned from your stern purpose of defending your beloved country and its free institutions by any arguments urged by ambitious and designing men, but stand fast to the Union and the old flag.
You have to risk going too far to discover just how far you can really go.
Cover a war in a place where you can't drink beer or talk to a woman? Hell no!
In so many places in the world, women have been prisoners for so long that they feel they have to scream about their rights. But when you scream, nobody listens to you. Real authority comes when you no longer need to scream - and that's something we women still need to learn.
Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.
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