We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection
Samuel AdamsRead
If virtue & knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslav'd. This will be their great security.
Interpretation
Knowledge and virtue empower people, assuring their freedom and security.
This quote by Samuel Adams emphasizes the importance of virtue and knowledge in society. It suggests that when these qualities are widespread among the populace, individuals are less likely to fall into oppression or slavery, as an educated and virtuous society can safeguard its own freedom and well-being.
In practice
In a speech on the importance of education, one could reference this quote to emphasize the need for an informed electorate.
We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection
Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust must be men of unexceptionable characters.
If taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our having a legal representation where they are laid, are we not reduced from the character of free subjects to the miserable state of tributary slaves? We claim British rights not by charter only! We are born to them.
Let no man thirst for good beer.
He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.
We boast of our freedom, and we have your example for it. We talk the language we have always heard you speak.
Man is only great when he acts from passion.
To be a good loser is to learn how to win.
You don't start at the top if you want to find the story. You start in the middle, because it's the people in the middle who do the actual work in the world.
In vain I have looked for a single man capable of seeing his own faults and bringing the charge home against himself.
Don't expect your genius to be discovered; do what you must do because it gives you joy. Don't expect your love to be accepted. Love because it justifies your life.
There are some nights when sleep plays coy, aloof and disdainful. And all the wiles that I employ to win its service to my side are useless as wounded pride, and much more painful.
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