The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

God, who gave us life, gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

So, there lies the brave de Kalb. The generous stranger, who came from a distant land to fight our battles and to water with his blood the tree of liberty. Would to God he had lived to share its fruits!

Do not reveal, if liberty is precious to you; my face is the prison of love.