I will go on quietly and slowly, but I will go on firmly, and with a certainty of success.

My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. In this my native land – in the land of my sires – I am degraded without fault as an alien and an outcast.

Although the Irish language is connected with the many recollections that twine around the hearts of Irishmen, yet the superior utility of the English tongue, as the medium of all modern communication, is so great that I can witness without a sigh the gradual decline of the Irish language.

Whoever commits a crime strengthens his enemy.

How cruel the Penal Laws are which exclude me from a fair trial with men whom I look upon as so much my inferiors.

Gentlemen, you may soon have the alternative to live as slaves or die as free men

The altar of liberty totters when it is cemented only with blood