Patrick Henry once ended a famous speech, "Give give me liberty or give me death." I attended public school when this was taught in history class. Lately it has brought to mind a line of thinking we should all revisit. I think our Founders had a great sense of things that would be worse than death. I thought I would try to put together a meaningful list based on inspiration from them.
Liberty must have been very dear to them for good cause. They, more than us, had an understanding that some things are worse than death. To give a little more context to Patrick Henry's famous speech let me include a few more lines:
What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
In the Declaration of Independence they closed out this monumental document by saying, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." They risked everything for freedom. They understood the excellence of life lived free from the oppression of a tyrant who is incapable of understand the potential of a single soul.
1. Living in oppression is worse than death.
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