“Death is better, a milder fate than tyranny.”
Variant translation: Death is softer by far than tyranny.
Source: Oresteia (458 BC), Agamemnon, line 1364
Quoted in "Major Campaign Speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson" (1952), Random House. Republished in the New York Times, "Books of the Times", by Charles Poore, April 20, 1953, p. 23
“Death is better, a milder fate than tyranny.”
Variant translation: Death is softer by far than tyranny.
Source: Oresteia (458 BC), Agamemnon, line 1364
James Joyce (1882–1941) Irish novelist and poet
"Ireland, Island of Saints and Sages," lecture, Università Popolare, Trieste (27 April 1907), printed in James Joyce: Occasional, Critical and Political Writing (2002) edited by Kevin Barry [Oxford University Press, 2002, <small> ISBN 0-192-83353-7</small>], p. 125
Trevor Loudon New Zealand politician
Will ‘Democratic Socialism’ Lead to Communism? https://www.theepochtimes.com/will-democratic-socialism-lead-to-communism_2777705.html
“Despite threats of death, I will not acquiesce to tyranny, but rather lead the fight against it.”
Benazir Bhutto (1953–2007) 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan
"Journeying to democracy" in The Boston Globe (18 October 2007) http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/18/journeying_to_democracy/ <br class="br">Context: I fully understand the men behind Al Qaeda. They have tried to assassinate me twice before. The Pakistan Peoples Party and I represent everything they fear the most — moderation, democracy, equality for women, information, and technology. We represent the future of a modern Pakistan, a future that has no place in it for ignorance, intolerance, and terrorism.<br>The forces of moderation and democracy must, and will, prevail against extremism and dictatorship. I will not be intimidated. I will step out on the tarmac in Karachi not to complete a journey, but to begin one. Despite threats of death, I will not acquiesce to tyranny, but rather lead the fight against it.
Samuel Gompers (1850–1924) American Labor Leader[AFL]
Out of Their Own Mouths: A Revelation and an Indictment of Sovietism, New York: NY, E.P Dutton and Company (1921) p. 87, co-authored with William English Walling.
Friedrich Nietzsche Untimely Meditations
trans. Hollingdale, “Schopenhauer as educator,” § 3.3, p. 139
Untimely Meditations (1876)
Muhammad al-Taqi (811–835) ninth of the Twelve Imams of Twelver Shi'ism
al-Shahid al-Tustari, Ihqaqul-Haq, vol.12, p. 432
Religious Wisdom