“A King, by disallowing Acts of this salutary nature, from being the father of his people, degenerated into a Tyrant and forfeits all rights to his subjects' obedience.”

—  Patrick Henry

Speech on the Parson's Cause, in the Hanover County Courthouse (1763)
1760s, Speech on the Parson's Cause (1763)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "A King, by disallowing Acts of this salutary nature, from being the father of his people, degenerated into a Tyrant and…" by Patrick Henry?
Patrick Henry photo
Patrick Henry43
attorney, planter, politician and Founding Father of the Un… 1736–1799

Related quotes

“The emperor relied on his popularity, the obedient habits of his subjects, and chiefly on the prejudices of the people against anything that could be subjected, right or wrong, to the charge of unconstitutionality.”

Alexander Bryan Johnson (1786–1867) United States philosopher and banker

The Philosophical Emperor, a Political Experiment, or, The Progress of a False Position: (1841)

Clarence Darrow photo

“Nothing is so loved by tyrants as obedient subjects.”

Clarence Darrow (1857–1938) American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union

Edmund Burke photo

“Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.”

Edmund Burke book Reflections on the Revolution in France

Volume iii, p. 334
Source: Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

“Man is that link of the chain of universal existence, by which spiritual and corporeal Beings are united … How will man, that sanguinary tyrant, be able to excuse himself from the charge of those innumerable cruelties inflicted on his unoffending subjects committed to his care, formed for his benefit, and placed under his authority by their common Father?”

Soame Jenyns (1704–1787) British writer

Disquisitions on Several Subjects (1782), Disquisition II: "On Cruelty to Inferior Animals", p. 11

Matteo Maria Boiardo photo

“Whoso obedience from his subjects seeks,
'Tis fitting that he first should learn to rule.”

Matteo Maria Boiardo (1441–1494) Italian writer

Chi vuole aver soggetti, che obbediscano,
Convien, che prima sappia comandare.
Act II, scene i
Timone (c. 1487)

William Penn photo

“Men being born with a title to perfect freedom and uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature… no one can be put out of his estate and subjected to the political view of another, without his consent.”

William Penn (1644–1718) English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, early Quaker and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania

First Frame of Government (25 April 1682).
Frame of Government (1682)

Kigeli V of Rwanda photo

“A king is like a father to the nation… All the tribes are like his children.”

Kigeli V of Rwanda (1936–2016) Rwandan king

citation needed

“Christ does not control his subjects by force, but is King of a willing people. They are, through His grace, freely devoted to His service.”

Joseph Alleine (1634–1668) Pastor, author

Source: An Alarm to the Unconverted aka A Sure Guide to Heaven (first published 1671), P. 48.

Meister Eckhart photo

“All that the Eternal Father teaches and reveals is His being, His nature, and His Godhead, which He manifests to us in His Son, and teaches us that we are also His Son.”

Meister Eckhart (1260–1328) German theologian

Sermon IV : True Hearing
Meister Eckhart’s Sermons (1909)

Abigail Adams photo

“I acknowledge myself a unitarian — Believing that the Father alone, is the supreme God, and that Jesus Christ derived his Being, and all his powers and honors from the Father.”

Abigail Adams (1744–1818) 2nd First Lady of the United States (1797–1801)

Letter to John Quincy Adams (5 May 1816)
Context: I acknowledge myself a unitarian — Believing that the Father alone, is the supreme God, and that Jesus Christ derived his Being, and all his powers and honors from the Father. … There is not any reasoning which can convince me, contrary to my senses, that three is one, and one three.

Related topics