Activism is Patriotism

"Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed — and no republic can survive." — John F. Kennedy

"Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; but urge me not to use moderation." — William Lloyd Garrison

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it." — Edward R. Murrow

"The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself." — Archibald Macleish

"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government." — Edward Abbey

"When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?" — Eleanor Roosevelt

"When the government fears the people, you have liberty. When the people fear the government, you have tyranny." — Thomas Jefferson

"No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots." — Barbara Ehrenreich

"If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible." — Henry David Thoreau