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Let us contemplate our forefathers, and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. The necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude and perseverance. Let us remember that "if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom," it is a very serious consideration that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.
Samuel Adams
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Interpretation

What this quote means

We must be vigilant in protecting our freedoms for future generations.

Samuel Adams emphasizes the importance of safeguarding the rights and liberties that have been passed down to us from our ancestors. He calls for careful reflection and determination in the face of threats to our freedom, reminding us that our complacency could result in dire consequences not only for ourselves but also for future generations who will inherit the state of our society.

Themes

FreedomRightsVigilanceLibertyFuture

In practice

Example use cases

This quote is perfect for discussions about civil rights at a community meeting.

More from Samuel Adams

We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection
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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.
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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.
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Let no man thirst for good beer.
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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.
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We boast of our freedom, and we have your example for it. We talk the language we have always heard you speak.
Samuel AdamsRead

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