The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. You have not converted a man, because you have silenced him. The doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary power and oppression is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind. War is Peace. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of our own choosing.
Time makes more converts than reason.
These are the times that try men's souls. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime. Revolution is the only thing, the only power, that ever worked out freedom for any people. The powers that have ruled long and learned to love ruling, will never give up that prerogative until they must, till they see the certainty of overthrow and destruction if they do not. The best state is that in which bad men are not allowed to hold office, and good men are not allowed to refuse office.