“Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.”

— Patrick Henry

Disputed, Give me liberty, or give me death! (1775)

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Patrick Henry 43

attorney, planter, politician and Founding Father of the Un… 1736–1799

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“The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.”

Patrick Henry (1736–1799) attorney, planter, politician and Founding Father of the United States

1770s, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" (1775)
Context: Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

“I just want to also say that Congressman Paul, I've heard him now in many debates talk about bringing our troops home, and about the war in Iraq and how it's failed. And I want to tell you that that kind of isolationism, sir, is what caused World War II. We allowed… We allowed -- we allowed Hitler to come to power with that kind of attitude of isolationism and appeasement.”

John McCain (1936–2018) politician from the United States

The CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/28/debate.transcript/
2000s, 2007

“I feel, Sir, at this instant, how much I had been animated in my childhood by a recital of England's victories:—I was taught, Sir, by one whose memory I shall ever revere, that at the close of a war, far different indeed from this, she had dictated the terms of peace to submissive nations. This, in which I place something more than a common interest, was the memorable aera of England's glory. But that aera is past…the visions of her power and pre-eminence are passed away…Let us examine what is left, with a manly and determined courage…Let us feel our calamities—let us bear them too, like men.”

William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) British politician

Speech in the House of Commons (21 February 1783), reprinted in W. S. Hathaway (ed.), The Speeches of William Pitt in the House of Commons. Volume I (London: 1817), pp. 31-32.

“Good sirs, take heart: —
We'll bury him; and then, what's brave, what's noble,
Let's do it after the high Roman fashion,
And make Death proud to take us. Come, away:
This case of that spirit now is cold. —
Ah, women, women!
Come; we have no friend
But resolution, and the briefest end.”

Cleopatra VII (-69–-30 BC) last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt

Source: As quoted, Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare, Act III, movie XV, (1623)

“"We don't get telly round our way, sir"! "Yeah, we hang you buggers round our way, we do"… "No, we all came on the same coach, sir"… "Norwich, that's us, sir." There's a bloke on the fifth row going "You're gonna die now, sir, you are!"”

Lee Evans (1964) English stand-up comedian and actor

Live at Her Majesty's Theatre (1994)

“There is no point in hiding that before the war we mostly learned to attack, and did not pay enough attention to such an important manoeuvre as retreat. Now we have paid for this. It turned out that the commanders and the staff were not sufficiently prepared to prepare and execute the retreat manoeuvre. Now, in the second week of war, we had in fact to learn from the beginning the most difficult art - the art of the execution of retreat.”

Hovhannes Bagramyan (1897–1982) Soviet military commander

Quoted in "The System of the International Organizations of the Communist Countries" - Page 36 - by Richard Szawlowski - 1976

“Let me make quite clear that I am for abortion and, in your case sir, we should make it retrospective.”

Gough Whitlam (1916–2014) Australian politician, 21st Prime Minister of Australia

After being heckled by a voter during a campaign trail.
Source: [Gough Whitlam dead: His memorable quotes, 21 October 2014, 2 May 2019, https://www.smh.com.au/national/gough-whitlam-dead-his-memorable-quotes-20141021-1193jd.html, Sydney Morning Herald, smh.com.au, Murphy, D]
Source: [Gough Whitlam remembered for his quick wit, Mills, D; Rajca, J, news.com.au, News Corp Australia Network, https://www.news.com.au/national/gough-whitlam-remembered-for-his-quick-wit-and-that-tv-ad-for-leggos-pasta-sauce/news-story/007e66ff548bffb6b48cea049c16ff85, 21 October 2014, 2 May 2019]

“There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free—if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending—if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained—we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!”

Patrick Henry (1736–1799) attorney, planter, politician and Founding Father of the United States

Disputed, Give me liberty, or give me death! (1775)

“Petition me no petitions, sir, to-day;
Let other hours be set apart for business.
Today it is our pleasure to be drunk;
And this our queen shall be as drunk as we.”

Henry Fielding (1707–1754) English novelist and dramatist

Act I, sc. ii
Tom Thumb the Great (1730)

“Reform will come and only come through the building of mass movements and alternative centers of power that can overthrow—let me repeat that word for Homeland Security—overthrow the corporate state. If we fail to sever these chains, we will become like many who did not rise up in time to save their civil society’s human chattel. This means we too must defy the law and engage in civil disobedience”

Chris Hedges (1956) American journalist

42:45
“ Our Only Hope Will Come Through Rebellion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOlg_2qAbUA” (2014)

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