There can be no prescription old enough to supersede the Law of Nature and the grant of God Almighty, who has given to all men a natural right to be free, and they have it ordinarily in their power to make themselves so, if they please.
Interpretation
This quote asserts that natural rights to freedom are inherent to all humans and cannot be overridden by man-made laws.
James Otis emphasizes the importance of natural rights, arguing that these rights are bestowed by a higher power and are a fundamental aspect of human existence. He asserts that individuals possess the inherent ability to pursue and secure their freedom, highlighting the moral supremacy of natural law over human legislation.
In practice
In a speech on civil liberties, you might reference this quote to highlight the importance of individual freedoms.
I am forced to get my living by the labour of my hand; and the sweat of my brow... for bitter bread, earned under the frowns of some who have no natural or divine right to be above me, and entirely owe their grandeur and honor to grinding the faces of the poor.
I will to my dying day oppose with all the powers and faculties God has given me, all such instruments of slavery on the one hand, and villainy on the other, as this writ of assistance is.
If we are not represented, we are slaves.
Now, one of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one's house.
It is a clear truth that those who every day barter away other men's liberty will soon care little for their own.
An act against the Constitution is void; an act against natural equity is void.
The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not “the thinker.” The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence. You also realize that all the things that truly matter – beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace – arise from beyond the mind. You begin to awaken.
Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good.
The Trinity is the basis of the gospel, and the gospel is a declaration of the Trinity in action.
I'm not me but living matter fermenting and forming its own shapes in the fruitfulness of every day.
He reached for his pocket, and found there, only reality
It isn't the oceans which cut us off from the world - it's the American way of looking at things.
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