We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection
Samuel AdamsRead
If virtue & knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslav'd. This will be their great security.
Interpretation
Knowledge and virtue empower people, assuring their freedom and security.
This quote by Samuel Adams emphasizes the importance of virtue and knowledge in society. It suggests that when these qualities are widespread among the populace, individuals are less likely to fall into oppression or slavery, as an educated and virtuous society can safeguard its own freedom and well-being.
In practice
In a speech on the importance of education, one could reference this quote to emphasize the need for an informed electorate.
We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection
Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust must be men of unexceptionable characters.
If taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our having a legal representation where they are laid, are we not reduced from the character of free subjects to the miserable state of tributary slaves? We claim British rights not by charter only! We are born to them.
Let no man thirst for good beer.
He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.
We boast of our freedom, and we have your example for it. We talk the language we have always heard you speak.
Things take the time they take. Don't worry.
Incidentally, when we're faced with a "prove or disprove," we're usually better off trying first to disprove with a counterexample, for two reasons: A disproof is potentially easier (we need just one counterexample); and nitpicking arouses our creative juices. Even if the given assertion is true, our search for a counterexample often leads to a proof, as soon as we see why a counterexample is impossible. Besides, it's healthy to be skeptical.
In an economy where the only certainty is uncertainty, the one sure source of lasting competitive advantage is knowledge.
This book, conceived in sorrow, composed in grief, and constructed at the brink of despair, contains my mind's best thoughts, and my soul's triumph over the powers of darkness.
The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.
A man should remove not only unnecessary acts, but also unnecessary thoughts, for then superfluous activity will not follow.
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