Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham

More information about this quote

Topic

Threats to freedom Freedom

Speaker

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1783 1780s 18th century

Occupation

National leader Politician

From

United Kingdom Europe

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Pitt, William. Speech in the House of Lords. House of Lords meeting. 18 Nov. 1783, Palace of Westminster, Westminster, London, England, UK.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by William Pitt, Earl of Chatham about threats to freedom: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human…”
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A quote by William Pitt, Earl of Chatham about threats to freedom: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human…”
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A quote by William Pitt, Earl of Chatham about threats to freedom: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1780s

What a stupendous, what an incomprehensible machine is man! Who can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment, & death itself in vindication of his own liberty, and the next moment... Inflict on his fellow men a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with more misery than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose.

Thomas Jefferson

More information about this quote
Topic
Duality of man

Author

Thomas Jefferson
Medium
Letter
Language
English
Time
1786 1780s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to Jean Nicholas Demeunier. 24 Jan. 1786.

Current Citation

Jefferson, Thomas. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being His Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private, edited by H. A. Washington. Vol. 9, Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Another quote about Freedom

When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Have a Dream

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Read the full transcript of I Have a Dream at americanrhetoric.com
More information about this quote
Topic
Freedom Equality
Speaker
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Source
I Have a Dream
Medium
Speech
Statement Type
Prophecies and predictions
Language
English
Time
1963 1960s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "I Have a Dream." March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. 28 Aug. 1963, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, USA.

Another quote from the following genre Political speech

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'

Winston Churchill

More information about this quote
Topic
World War II British empire
Speaker
Winston Churchill
Source
Their Finest Hour
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1940 1940s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Churchill, Winston. "Their Finest Hour." House of Commons meeting. 18 June 1940, The Palace of Westminster, London, England, UK. Address.

Current Citation

Churchill, Winston. "Alone: Their Finest Hour." Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Great Speeches, edited by David Cannadine. Penguin Classics, 2007.