The God Who Gave Us Life

The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time;
the hand of force may destroy but cannot disjoin them.

from A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)

I Shall Not Die Without Hope

I shall not die without a hope that light and liberty are on steady advance... And even should the cloud of barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and liberties of Europe, this country remains to preserve and restore light and liberty to them... The flames kindled on the 4th of July, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them.

from Letter to John Adams, Monticello (September 12, 1821)