"Laws just or unjust may govern men's..." - Quote by Winston Churchill
Laws just or unjust may govern men's actions. Tyrannies may restrain or regulate their words. The machinery of propaganda may pack their minds with falsehood and deny them truth for many generations of time. But the soul of man thus held in trance or frozen in a long night can be awakened by a spark coming from God knows where and in a moment the whole structure of lies and oppression is on trial for its life.
More by Winston Churchill
“A vocabulary of truth and simplicity will be of service throughout your life.”
“History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former days. What is the worth of all this? The only guide to a man is his conscience; the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations; but with this shield, however the fates may play, we march always in the ranks of honor.”
“Censure is often useful, praise is often deceitful.”
More on Freedom
“Let us work without desire for name or fame or rule over others. Let us be free from the triple bonds of lust, greed of gain, and anger. And this truth is with us!”
“Obey the principles without being bound by them.”
“Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory.”
More on Oppression
“He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.”
“For if Men are to be precluded from offering their Sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of Speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter.”
“Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.”