Francis Preston Blair Sr. Quotes

No man in his senses can hesitate in choosing to be free, rather than a slave.

I´m not a wandering slave, I am a woman of choice

Liberty may be an uncomfortable blessing unless you know what to do with it. That is why so many freed slaves returned to their masters, why so many emancipated women are only too glad to give up the racket and settle down. For between announcing that you will live your own life, and the living of it lie the real difficulties of any awakening.

Better freedom and a chilly road than a warm hearth and servitude.

I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.

Either be wholly slaves or wholly free.

Our freedom can be measured by the number of things we can walk away from.

I wanted to use my possibility to be an individual, and I suppose I have, no?

No man may make another free.

Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.

I do have the freedom to choose what I want to do and I'll continue to do that.

Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give.

Liberty consists in doing what one desires.

I want it to resonate: there's no rule for how to live your life. You can do things your own way.

Once a man has tasted freedom he will never be content to be a slave.

I think, there are people for whom freedom is a bigger, more important thing than stability.

If you would have the slave show the virtues of the freeman, you must first make him free.

If you want to be free, be free, because there's a million things to be.

Though freedom and wealth are both good things which most of us desire and though we often need both to obtain what we wish, they still remain different. Whether or not I am my own master and can follow my own choice and whether the possibilities from which I must choose are many or few are two entirely different questions. The courtier living in the lap of luxury but at the beck and call of his prince may be much less free than a poor peasant or artisan, less able to live his own life and to choose his own opportunities for usefulness.

Better freedom with a crust, than slavery with every luxury.

Nearly all men are slaves for the same reason that the Spartans assigned for the servitude of the Persians -- lack of power to pronounce the syllable, "No." To be able to utter that word and live alone, are the only means to preserve one's freedom and one's character.

Tell freedom I said hello.

It is for men to choose whether they will govern themselves or be governed.

It is a maxim that no man was ever enslaved by influence while he was fit to be free.

What I'm really interested in is freedom.