“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
— Thomas Jefferson Primary source“This Nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
— Abraham Lincoln Primary source“And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.”
— John F. Kennedy Primary source“No animal has more liberty than the cat; but it buries the mess it makes. The cat is the best anarchist.”
— Ernest Hemingway Primary source“As long as I have any choice, I will only stay in a country where political liberty, tolerance, and equality of all citizens before the law prevail.”
— Albert Einstein Primary source“And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.”
— Abraham Lincoln Primary source“And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.”
— Abraham Lincoln Primary source“Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor liberty to purchase power.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary sourcePolitics Freedom Equality American Civil War Cats