If the provisions of the Constitution be not upheld when they pinch as well as when they comfort, they may as well be abandoned.
George SutherlandRead
For the saddest epitaph which can be carved in memory of a vanished freedom is that it was lost because its possessors failed to stretch forth a saving hand while there was still time.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the consequences of inaction regarding the preservation of freedom, suggesting that it is lost when those who possess it do not take action to protect it.
George Sutherland's quote serves as a poignant reminder that freedom is fragile and requires active participation to be maintained. When people take their freedom for granted and fail to respond to threats or challenges, they risk losing it entirely. This highlights the importance of vigilance and proactive engagement in the face of encroaching limitations on liberty.
Themes
FreedomInactionResponsibilityVigilanceLoss
In practice
Example use cases
A call to action in a speech about civic duty and the importance of defending civil liberties.
More from George Sutherland
All quotes →Similar quotes
You can't have virtue without sin. What I'm after is having my characters' virtues defined by how they operate in a very sinful environment. That's how you test people.
Frank MillerRead
Seeing ourselves as others see us would probably confirm our worst suspicions about them.
Franklin P. AdamsRead
It is the pull of opposite poles that stretches souls. And only stretched souls make music.
Eric HofferRead
The trace left behind is substituted for the practice. It exhibits the (voracious) property that the geographical system has of being able to transform action into legibility, but in doing so it causes a way of being in the world to be forgotten.
Michel De CerteauRead
My health may be better preserved if I exert myself less, but in the end doesn't each person give his life for his calling?
Clara SchumannRead
If _x000D_ we continue to teach about tolerance and intolerance _x000D_ instead _x000D_ of good and evil, we will end up with tolerance of _x000D_ evil.
Dennis PragerRead