Quote: Benjamin Franklin on Liberty
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
– Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father of the United States (1706-1790)
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
– Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father of the United States (1706-1790)
One of the best quotes ever, and it’s so fitting for what’s going on today in America.
The quote wasn’t actually by Ben Franklin but by some guy named Richard Jackson.
I’m just very thankful you used the whole quote, including the words “essential” and “temporary” which are often omitted. Without those words, the quote becomes much too strong. I am happy to give up some inessential liberties in order to obtain some permanent safety.
Fitting? How? What liberties have you given up? I haven’t given up any.
I agree with Robert. I can’t think of anyway my freedoms have changed. Also a side note; many people quote Franklin when it comes to freedoms. But Franklin was also an ardent critic of abuses by the press and lack of ethics. Look em’ up. Those are fitting quotes.
I never liked this quote. It’s too harsh and judgemental.
My freedoms haven’t changed at all. Ben Franklin’s world was also a damned sight different than ours. Instantaneous mass destruction was not on the menu nor even pondered.
Good one Caz. You’re a real marvel with the words. You instantly brought yourself so much credibility. You should apply for an editor job at a major newspaper. Do you know anyone, or can you prove that anyone has been affected by a loss of habeas corpus? I know it’s a hot button for people like yourself that like to express your beliefs with stories as a opposed to facts, but it doesn’t cut it. Go back to Mr. Roger’s neighborhood.
Your freedoms haven’t changed? What about roving wiretaps, listening in on your conversations without you being suspected of anything? Or keeping a public record of what you check out from the library? The loss of habeus corpus? Search without warrants? Holding without legal justification? Justification of torture?
Oh your freedoms have changed, my friends, whether you’ve felt the effects or not.
noone mentioned our most malinged and tatterted liberty of all, the right to keep and bear arms.
-dave p.
I don’t check out anything bad from the library. I don’t say anything that anybody couldn’t hear. I don’t get searched and no one would ever want to search me. I don’t get tortured. I don’t get held against my will.
I guess these are terrible times for my personal freedoms… I don’t know how I will get by.

