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Thought

Liu Xiaobo, jailed Chinese dissident and winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize

“Freedom of expression is the foundation of human rights, the source of humanity, and the mother of truth.”

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Thought

Heraclitus

“Deliberate violence is more to be quenched than a fire.”

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Thought

Ralph Waldo Emerson, from “Concord Hymn”

“By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.”

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Thought

Clarence Darrow – born April 18, 1857 in Trumbull County, Ohio

“True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.”

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Thought

Richard Allen Epstein (born April 17, 1943) one of the most influential legal thinkers of our time

“Do not get yourself into the illusion that there is something so unique about the question of organ or body parts … that the general rules of economics do not apply.”

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Thought

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – from “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” written on April 16, 1963

“You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.”

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Thought

Jean-Paul Sartre (died on April 15, 1980)

“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.”

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Thought

Frank Serpico, born on April 14, 1936, was a New York City policeman who testified against police corruption in 1971 and was the subject of the 1973 film, “Serpico,” starring Al Pacino

“The fight for justice against corruption is never easy. It never has been and never will be. It exacts a toll on our self, our families, our friends, and especially our children. In the end, I believe, as in my case, the price we pay is well worth holding on to our dignity.”

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Thought

Eugene V. Debs

“It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don’t want and get it.”

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Thought

Seneca the Younger

Apply reason to difficulties; harsh circumstances can be softened, narrow limits can be widened, and burdensome things can be made to press less severely on those who bear them cleverly.

Seneca, Roman philosopher, statesman, and dramatist who died on April 12, 65 A.D.