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The natural liberty of man, by entering into society, is abridged or restrained, so far only as is necessary for the great end of society, the best good of the whole.

— Samuel Adams The Rights of the Colonists (1772)

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More quotes by Samuel Adams

The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.

It requires time to bring honest Men to think & determine alike even in important Matters. Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason.

It is not unfrequent to hear men declaim loudly upon liberty, who, if we may judge by the whole tenor of their actions, mean nothing else by it but their own liberty, — to oppress without control or the restraint of laws all who are poorer or weaker than themselves.

Essay published in The Advertiser (1748)

There is nothing so fretting and vexatious, nothing so justly TERRIBLE to tyrants, and their tools and abettors, as a FREE PRESS.

It is a very great mistake to imagine that the object of loyalty is the authority and interest of one individual man, however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular actions.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Samuel Adams (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.