Benjamin Franklin

Founding Father

Liberty

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety...."

"A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them, cannot be enslaved. It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins."

Virtue

"A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district all studied and appreciated as they merit - are the principle support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty."

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."

U.S. Constitution

"I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God governs in the affairs of man. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this ...." (In the Constitutional Convention)