His face is livid, gaunt his whole body, his breath is green with gall; his tongue drips poison.
John Quincy AdamsRead
Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of preventing unjust authority before it takes root to protect people's freedoms.
John Quincy Adams warns against allowing arbitrary power to gain influence, advocating for vigilance in safeguarding liberty. By addressing potential abuses of power at their inception, societies can maintain freedom and prevent tyranny. This perspective highlights the significance of proactive measures in governance and civil rights.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about civil rights to stress the necessity of defending freedoms.
His face is livid, gaunt his whole body, his breath is green with gall; his tongue drips poison.
Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
It is among the evils of slavery that it taints the very sources of moral principle. It establishes false estimates of virtue and vice: for what can be more false and heartless than this doctrine which makes the first and holiest rights of humanity to depend upon the color of the skin?
The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.
I have no predilection for unpopularity as such, but I hold it much preferable to the popularity of a day, which perishes with the transient topic upon which it is grounded.
According to the Stoics, all vice was resolvable into folly: according to the Christian principle, it is all the effect of weakness.
I have to feel myself doing what's right. If I'm the arbiter of that instead of letting the guy on TV be that or someone who doesn't know me at all, then I think that's a much better way to live.
It is often in the name of cultural integrity as well as social stability and national security that democratic reforms based on human rights are resisted by authoritarian governments.
Never before has the seductive market way of life held such sway in nearly every sphere of American life. This marketing way of life promotes addictions to stimulation and obsessions with comfort and convenience ... centered primarily around bodily pleasures and status rankings. ... The common denominator is a rugged and ragged individualism and rapacious hedonism in quest of a perennial "high" in body and mind.
I think it can be shown that the law makes ten criminals where it restrains one.
Cut off from his religious, metaphysical and transcendental roots, man is lost; all his actions become senseless, absurd, useless.
She's beautiful,' he murmured. 'She's a metre across the hips, easily,' said Julia. 'That is her style of beauty,' said Winston.
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