Quote#Freedom
Finally, under which of the old tyrannical governments of Europe is…
Quote bySydney Smith · 1771–1845
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Referring to the lack of established culture and the established institution of slavery in the United States, in "Review of Seybert's Annals of the United States", The Edinburgh Review (1820), pp. 79-80.
English (original)
Finally, under which of the old tyrannical governments of Europe is every sixth man a slave, whom his fellow-creatures may buy and sell and torture?
— Sydney Smith
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When I hear any man talk of an unalterable law, the only effect it produces upon me is to convince me that he is an unalterable fool.
In fact, when a nation has become free, it is extremely difficult to persuade them that their freedom is only to be preserved by perpetual and minute jealousy. They do not observe that there is a constant, perhaps an unconscious, effort on …
But now persecution is good, because it exists; every law which originated in ignorance and malice, and gratifies the passions from whence it sprang, we call the wisdom of our ancestors: when such laws are repealed, they will be cruelty …
In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? Or goes to an American play? or looks at an American picture or statue?