Be you off duty, taking a break at work, retired, or perhaps among the over a million who surfed ManufacturedHomeProNews.com (MHProNews.com) following the incredible publishing year of 2022, it is useful to step back and reflect on what makes your job or ours possible. Freedom. According to left-leaning Wikipedia: “Trade journalism reports on the movements and developments of the business world by way of articles or analysis. Trade journalism also refers to industry-specific news…” Note that “articles and analysis” are at the heart of trade journalism. What plagues our profession also often limits others too. So, in analyzing artificially diminutive MHVille, with tens of millions of Americans believing that the U.S. has become ‘a rigged system,’ this collection of often pithy reflections on freedom may inspire you or others for the new day or new year that lies ahead. While most of those quoted are American thinkers, ranging from the so-called founding fathers of those original 13 states to our own era, a few are from other countries. The majority of what follows are secular thinkers, but some biblical references on freedom are included too. With that brief tee up and no further adieu, here are those quotations, the person they are attributed to, and the source for that quotable quote.
Statements and Reflections of Freedom
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” – Samuel “Sam” Adams, per Forbes and Samuel Adam Heritage.
“The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.” – Samuel “Sam” Adams, according to Samuel Adam Heritage.
“Shame on the men who can court exemption from present trouble and expense at the price of their own posterity’s liberty!” – Samuel “Sam” Adams, according to Samuel Adam Heritage.
“Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.” – Samuel “Sam” Adams, according to Samuel Adam Heritage.
“All might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they should.” – Samuel “Sam” Adams, according to Samuel Adam Heritage.
“Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance.” – Samuel “Sam” Adams, according to Samuel Adam Heritage.
“Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.” – George Washington, per Inspirational Quotes on Freedom and Independence per Country Living.
“For everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labour in freedom.” – Albert Einstein, according to Inspirational Quotes on Freedom and Independence per Country Living.
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” – Nelson Mandela, per Inspirational Quotes on Freedom and Independence per Country Living.
“Freedom lies in being bold.” – Robert Frost, according to Inspirational Quotes on Freedom and Independence per Country Living.
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.” – Charlotte Bronte in Jane Eyre, per Inspirational Quotes on Freedom and Independence per Country Living.
“The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear.” – Aung San Suu Kyi, according to Inspirational Quotes on Freedom and Independence per Country Living.
“Lock up your libraries if you like, but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt, that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” – Virginia Woolf in A Room of One’s Own, per Inspirational Quotes on Freedom and Independence per Country Living.
“For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, according to Inspirational Quotes on Freedom and Independence per Country Living.
“What do you suppose will satisfy the Soul, except to walk free, and own no superior.” – Walt Whitman in Leaves of Grass per Inspirational Quotes on Freedom and Independence per Country Living.
“No person is your friend (or kin) who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.” – Alice Walker, according to Inspirational Quotes on Freedom and Independence per Country Living.
Some say America is as divided as it was during the Civil War; if so, then ponder these thoughts from President Abraham Lincoln said in his famous “Gettysburg Address” which dedicated the burial site for the thousands who died there during the armed struggle which resulted in the emancipation of black slaves in the U.S.A. According to Cornell University: “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
From Yahoo Sports comes the following selections from Meaningful Bible Verses on Freedom.
“Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.” – Psalm 118:5.
“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” – 1 Peter 2:16-17.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners.” – Isaiah 61:1.
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” – John 8:36.
“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” – Romans 6:18.
From A-Z Quotes are the following selections on Freedom and Liberty.
“Christian freedom does not mean being free to do as we like; it means being free to do as we ought.” – William Barclay.
“The framers of our Constitution meant we were to have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.” – Billy Graham.
“The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.” – Calvin Coolidge.
“The Christian is not free to do what the Bible forbids. Christian freedom does not entail the right to fornicate or to steal or to lie or to persist in an unforgiving attitude or to do anything else the Scriptures explicitly prohibit. And a person who lovingly points this out to you is not a legalist for having done so!” – Sam Storms.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” – James Madison
“[W]e must first experience the kingdom if we are even to know what kind of freedom and what kind of equality we should desire. Christian freedom lies in service, Christian equality is equality before God, and neither can be achieved through the coercive efforts of liberal idealists who would transform the world into their image.” – Stanley Hauerwas.
“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others.” – Thomas Jefferson
Quotes on Freedom from Martin Luther King Jr. per A-Z Quotes.
“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho’ we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“And when this happens, when we allow freedom [to] ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“God is not merely interested in the freedom of brown men, yellow men, red men and black men. He is interested in the freedom of the whole human race.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The function of education [i.e.: learning] is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically [i.e: analytically]. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I have a dream… I have a dream today… And if America is to be a great nation this must become true.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
From 100 Quotes on Faith and Freedom by Samuel Deuth are the following selections.
“If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” – George Washington.
“Our land will not remain free if our brave remain silent.” – Samuel Deuth.
“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” – Thomas Jefferson.
“Don’t say thank you when the government gives you back a portion of the freedoms they should never have taken.” – Samuel Deuth.
“If the representatives of the people betray their constituents, there is then no recourse left but in the exertion of that original right of self-defense which is paramount to all positive forms of government.” – Alexander Hamilton.
“We’re so afraid of offending people that we’d rather leave them in their dysfunction than speak the truth that would set them free.” – Samuel Deuth.
“Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature.” – Benjamin Franklin.
“Weak men prefer the predictable harbor of a tyrant to the raging seas of Liberty.” – Samuel Deuth.
“Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, because if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.” – Daniel Webster.
“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” – Thomas Paine.
“The Gospel is not dependent on America, but America is dependent on the Gospel.” – Mike Huckabee.
“If America stays free it won’t be by it’s politicians but by it’s parents and pastors.”
– Samuel Deuth.
“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” – Ronald Reagan.
“It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government.” – Thomas Paine.
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion… Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” – John Adams.
“Trying to create liberty without Jesus, the source of liberty, is like flipping a light switch on that isn’t connected to electricity and expecting the light to turn on.” – Samuel Deuth.
“Those who know the truth and don’t speak it are a willing partner to the destruction of their generation.” – Samuel Deuth.
“There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet an enemy.” – George Washington.
“A strong nation are a people submitted to God’s Word.” – Samuel Deuth.
“You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it.” – John Adams.
“Do not comply with the demands of a tyrant.” – Samuel Deuth.
“The policy of American government is to leave its citizens free, neither restraining them nor aiding them in their pursuits.” – Thomas Jefferson.
“Those people who will not be ruled by God will be ruled by tyrants.” – William Penn.
“A wartime season in a nation requires wartime messages from our pulpits.” – Samuel Deuth.
“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.” – Samuel Adams.
“They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.” – Benjamin Franklin.
“Truth is foreign to this generation, so keep speaking it until they understand.” – Samuel Deuth.
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry.
“Truth is an ever rising platform—it elevates all who are willing to stand firmly on it.” – Samuel Deuth.
“Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission; this is all we can expect- We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die: Our own Country’s honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions.” – George Washington.
“Free people that are passive towards government overreach will not remain free for long.” – Samuel Deuth.
“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” – Thomas Paine.
“They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power.” – Patrick Henry.
“Liberty must at all hazards be supported.. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.” – John Adams.
“Biblical Freedom doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. It means you’re free to do what’s right according to God’s Word.” – Samuel Deuth.
“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” – Thomas Paine.
“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.” – John F. Kennedy.
“No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.” – Ronald Reagan.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” – Declaration of Independence.
“It does not take a majority to prevail… but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men.” – Samuel Adams.
“When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” – Thomas Jefferson.
“Spiritual freedom is the root of political liberty…As the union between spiritual freedom and political liberty seems nearly inseparable, it is our duty to defend both.” – Thomas Paine.
“Silence doesn’t absolve you from guilt. If God opens your eyes to injustice and you ignore it—that blood is on your hands.” – Samuel Deuth.
“We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments of God.” – James Madison.
“Being neutral on issues of morality is choosing the side of the enemy.” – Samuel Deuth.
“If a politician is telling you what speech you’re free to say, then it’s not “free speech.” – Samuel Deuth.
“If a corporation or organization of any kind is telling you what you can or can’t say, then that is not free speech.” – L. A. “Tony” Kovach.
“When it comes to Liberty: Are you doing what’s right for the next generation or just what’s easy for yours?” – Samuel Deuth.
“Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.” – Alexander Hamilton.
“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” – Gerald R. Ford.
“The true source of our suffering has been our timidity. We have been afraid to think… Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write… Let it be known that British liberties are not the grants of princes or parliaments.” – John Adams.
“The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.” – Maximilien Robespierre.
Thought-Provoking Quotes from Various Sources as Cited
“Fascism should more appropriate be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.” – Benito Mussolini, per AZ Quotes.
“In our schools, our newsrooms, even our corporate boardrooms, there is a new far-left fascism that demands absolute allegiance. If you do not speak its language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras, and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted, and punished.” – President Donald J. Trump (R), Mount Rushmore address, July 3, 2020.
“Multinational corporations do control. They control the politicians. They control the media. They control the pattern of consumption, entertainment, thinking. They’re destroying the planet and laying the foundation for violent outbursts and racial division.” – Former California Governor Edmund Gerald “Jerry” Brown Jr. (D), per BrainyQuote.
“After years of disappointment, there is one thing we all have learned — we can’t fix the rigged system by relying on very, and I mean this so, so strongly, on the very people who rigged it, and they rigged it, and do not ever think anything differently. We can’t solve our problems by counting on the politicians who created our problems.” – then candidate Donald J. Trump per FactCheck.org
“In effect they’re creating a colonial society here in America through the global accumulation of financial power.” – Former California Governor Edmund Gerald “Jerry” Brown Jr. (D) in an interview posted on SeasonalChef.
“There is class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Warren Buffett, per left-of-center New York Times on November 26, 2006.
“We’ll will never be able to fix a rigged system by counting on the same people who have rigged it in the first place. The insiders wrote the rules of the game to keep themselves in power and in the money. That’s why we’re asking Bernie Sanders’ voters to join our movement: so together we can fix the system for all Americans. So important. This includes fixing all of our many disastrous trade deals. … Because it’s not just the political system that’s rigged, it’s the whole economy. It’s rigged by big donors who want to keep wages down. It’s rigged by big businesses who want to leave our country, fire our workers, and sell their products back into the United States with absolutely no consequences for them. It’s rigged by bureaucrats who are trapping kids in failing schools. It’s rigged against you, the American people.” – then candidate Donald J. Trump per FactCheck.org.
“To fix what’s gone wrong in America, one must first understand how things went wrong in the first place. Specific corporate and political leaders have long used paltering, phony promises, and what may seem to be benefits that are costly, limiting, and harmful as a way of manipulating enough people so that they can maintain their immorally and illegally acquired money and power. The system was not rigged overnight and won’t likely be fixed in an instant. People of good will from all backgrounds will have to work for the benefit of all the people in large part by prosecuting those who rigged the system. Because juries are made up of citizens it is the right and duty of we the people to be the final say in holding wrongdoers to a full, legal, and proper accountability for their various crimes. Antitrust, RICO and other existing federal and state laws make this possible. To fix a lawn with numbers of weeds, you begin by uprooting those weeds one at a time but as rapidly as possible. You also nourish the lawn to promote healthy growth. That analogy applies to our society. There are far more of us – We the People – than there are of them.” – L. A. “Tony” Kovach.
“It’s not only a monopoly of wealth, it’s a monopoly of information as well.” Actor Danny Glover in the award-winning and timeless documentary, Shadows of Liberty.
“Good federal and state laws already exist that if properly applied could reign in the excessive power of fascist-minded corporations, billionaires, and the nonprofits they influence or control. It was not a majority that earned the freedom of the American colonists from the British crown and various crown monopolies. Rather, it was a determined number of freedom loving patriots who were willing to make sacrifices because history, Scripture, and reason all told them that failure to act would eventually make things worse. In our days, what is necessary is to inspire public officials to act using what laws they already have at their disposal. Good public officials of whatever background must not shy away from investigation, prosecuting, massively fining and imprisoning the wealthy, powerful and key officials who have abused their power to benefit the few among their own ranks. Authentic freedom and maximum opportunities require reigning in those who sly and wryly over time rigged the system in their own favor.” – L.A. “Tony” Kovach.
“Politicians in this country want more power. The rich want more power.” – Warren Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway to CNBC on June 29, 2021.
“Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof.” Inscribed on the Liberty Bell (see featured photo at top) is from Leviticus 25:10.
“Freedom isn’t Free.” – Col. Walter Hitchcock of the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico, per Wikipedia.
Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32 NLT per Bible.com) ##
need to wait years for legislation that in the past has often led to little or no discernable benefit. https://www.wnd.com/2021/05/solution-big-tech-oligarchs/
Again, our thanks to free email subscribers, all readers like you, our tipsters/sources, sponsors and God for making and keeping us the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) (See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Related References:
The text/image boxes below are linked to other reports, which can be accessed by clicking on them.
