Independence Day Quotes
Despite the name, this is not a page about the American Fourth of July. It is built from the freedom and patriotism pages, and the writers who turn up come from all over: the Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos, the Italian anarchist Bruno Filippi, Shakespeare, Anna Quindlen. De Burgos has a line about an invaded nation where today’s battlefield is independence.
A few entries are there because of a keyword, not a mood. Cervantes’s remark about not thrusting his nose into other men’s porridge (Don Quixote, 1605) is about minding your own business. If you want something for a speech, sort by source grade and skip the oddities.
Most quoted on independence day:
“Instead, I’ve found my identity in God, and that’s given me a sense of purpose and freedom.”
The word liberty in the mouth of Mr. Webster sounds like the word love in the mouth of a courtesan.
License they mean when they cry, Liberty!
For who loves that must first be wise and good.
Freedom is more precious than the gift that makes us lose it.
Today, freedom is on the offensive, democracy is on the march.
Spreading the idea of freedom is a big job — it needs your help.
What is freedom? There is no such thing as absolute freedom!
Peace with justice means extending a hand to those who reach for freedom, wherever they live.