"The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I Am Not A Virginian, But An American!"--Patrick Henry, 1775. (Response to King George III's declaration that Americans were traitors to the crown.)

"As it was 189 years ago.. the cause of America is a revolutionary cause.. Neither you nor I are willing to accept the tyranny of poverty, nor the dictatorship of ignorance, nor the despotism of ill health, nor the oppression of bias and prejudice & bigotry." Lyndon Johnson, 1965

“Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories.” — Thomas Jefferson. Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XIV, 1781 (On the theme of the importance of public education.)

"If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning."—Frederick Douglass. Speech, 4 Aug, 1857, Canandaigua, NY