I look on that paper (the Constitution) as the most fatal plan that could possibly be conceived to enslave a free people.

If this be treason, make the most of it!

My most cherished possession I wish I could leave you is my faith in Jesus Christ, for with Him and nothing else you can be happy, but without Him and with all else you'll never be happy.

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!

It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts... For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.

The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery

Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom.