Marquis de Lafayette

"I am convinced that freedom is the natural state of man."

"The peculiarity of the American Revolution is, that it was not the result of commotion and tumult, but of a well-digested plan matured in the minds of the people."

"Whenever I receive a deputation of citizens, I always feel that I receive it as a representative of the nation."

"I am not a king, but a citizen, and it is in that character that I have always wished to be considered."

"The throne we have just quitted was not worth the blood of a single citizen."

"I would rather be a little nobody, then to be a evil somebody."

"My life is a piece of performance art, and I perform it with relentless devotion."

"We ought to fear only God, and we ought to love all men."

"The Revolution will not be complete until it has enlightened every mind and warmed every heart."

"I wish to be useful to my country and to mankind, which is the same thing."

"Service to humanity is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth."

"A heart devoted to duty is stronger than all the powers of tyranny."

"We should never despair; our situation before has been yet more desperate."

"I have never been afraid to fight for what I believe to be right and just."

"The great object of my life has been to be useful to my country and to mankind."

"Mankind will never be thoroughly happy until universal toleration is established."

"It is my principle to act upon conviction and not upon expediency."

"I am not American, I am not French - I am a friend to humanity."

"The preservation of the rights of man is the true object of good government."

"I have always observed that mankind are much more happily served by their own senses than by the rhetoric of others."

"Measure not the work until the day's work is done."

"I believe that the basis of a good government is a good education."

"Freedom is the God of my heart, and its principles are engraven upon my soul."

"Every man has a right to the fruits of his own labor."

"The more enlightened men are, the less despotism can prevail."

"A true soldier is not one who has the most weapons but one with the most conviction."

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect on which all human difficulties disappear."

"I have dedicated my life to the cause of human liberty."

"We should not regard equality as merely a political principle but as a moral imperative."

"The sword is not the instrument of a free people; wisdom is."