Chains Quotes

"The best time to talk to ghosts is just before the sun comes up. That’s when they can hear us true, Momma said. That’s when ghosts can answer us."

"YOUTH IS THE SEED TIME OF GOOD HABITS, AS WELL IN NATIONS AS IN INDIVIDUALS." —THOMAS PAINE, COMMON SENSE

"Smallpox is tricky," Miss Mary Finch said to me when Momma died. "There’s no telling who it’ll take."

"I, YOUNG IN LIFE, BY SEEMING CRUEL FATE WAS SNATCH’D FROM AFRIC’S FANCYIED HAPPY SEAT: … THAT FROM A FATHER SEIZ’D HIS BABE HIS BABE BELOVE’D: SUCH, SUCH MY CASE. AND CAN I THEN BUT PRAY OTHERS MAY NEVER FEEL TYRANNIC SWAY?" —PHILLIS WHEATLEY, "TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM, EARL OF DARTMOUTH"

"WE HAVE IN COMMON WITH ALL OTHER MEN A NATUREL RIGHT TO OUR FREEDOMS WITHOUT BEING DEPRIV’D OF THEM BY OUR FELLOW MEN… WE WERE UNJUSTLY DRAGGED BY THE CRUEL HAND OF POWER FROM OUR DEAREST FRIENDS AND SUM OF US STOLEN… AND BROUGHT HITHER TO BE MADE SLAVES FOR LIFE IN A CHRISTIAN LAND THUS ARE WE DEPRIVED OF EVERY THING THAT HATH A TENDENCY TO MAKE LIFE EVEN TOLERABLE …" –PETITION FOR FREEDOM FROM A GROUP OF SLAVES TO MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR THOMAS GAGE, HIS MAJESTY’S COUNCIL, AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 25 MAY 1774

"THE PEOPLE OFNEWYORKOF NEW YORKOFNEWYORK–WHY THE PEOPLE ARE MAGNIFICENT; IN THEIR CARRIAGES, WHICH ARE NUMEROUS, IN THEIR HOUSE FURNITURE, WHICH IS FINE, IN THEIR PRIDE AND CONCEIT, WHICH ARE INIMITABLE, IN THEIR PROFANENESS, WHICH IS INTOLERABLE, IN THE WANT OF PRINCIPLE, WHICH IS PREVALENT, AND IN THEIR TORYISM, WHICH IS INSUFFERABLE." –LETTER FROM PATRIOT COLONEL HENRY KNOX TO HIS WIFE, LUCY

"There is nothing more necessary than good intelligence to frustrate a designing enemy, & nothing requires greater pains to obtain." –Letter of George Washington to Robert Morris

"THERE IS A CERTAIN ENTHUSIASM IN LIBERTY, THAT MAKES HUMAN NATURE RISE ABOVE ITSELF, IN ACTS OF BRAVERY AND HEROISM." –Alexander Hamilton

"... of all the insults, of all the assaults on the dignity of a woman, this, sir, is the lowest, the most base."

"Madam, if you do not take your person from that chest, I shall order these soldiers to remove you."

"Yes, he would, dear. Please, wife, let these men do their work with no further delay."

"You could use some building up. Eat and tell me everything."

"I DESIRE YOU WOULD REMEMBER THE LADIES, AND BE MORE GENEROUS AND FAVOURABLE TO THEM THAN YOUR ANCESTORS."

"Our thunders must go forth. America must be conquered."

"We have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go."

"But as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go."

"I shall see to it that every leader in every land knows—"

"The judge rolled his eyes. 'Colony. State. Who knows what we will be next?'"

"Her words stuck in the air, like flies caught in a spider's web."

"Once kindled, rebellion can spread like wildfire."

"You wanted her branded then? Twenty strokes of the lash would be more in keeping with her crimes."

"The glowing iron streaked in front of my face like a comet."

"The fire in my face burned on and on, deep through my flesh, searing my soul."

"The buzzing echoed in my brainpan and crowded out my thoughts."

"The streets were filled with the hurry-scurry of a moving army, splashing through mud puddles."

"The air was steeped in evil during those muggy, pestilent days."

"The streets were fair deserted all the way up to the Commons."

"We should sabotage the barricades. If the British win, we’ll all be free."

"The wind caught at my skirts and swirled them around my ankles."

"The fire raged with inconceivable violence."

"The cries and screams of men and women mixed with the terror of the horses burning alive in locked stables."

"The words of the bald-headed man came to me: 'If the British win, we’ll all be free.'"

"The serving girls and wine steward watched the progress of the eyebrow and fought to keep the smiles from their faces."

"The air came out of me in the shape of a cloud."

"A chant started in the crowd, and singing."

"I feared my wits had been melted by the flames, twisted and charred."

"It was a bad night to be without a blanket."

"The whispers in my brainpan grew louder as I crossed the street."

"Despite the cold, a trickle of sweat inched down my backbone."

"I saw the most horrid sights, Country, not fit for the eyes of any person."

"She brought food for the black boy, Sergeant," he complained. "T’ain’t right for the slave to eat while we starve."

"I was raised in the country, miss. Too much time inside makes me feel poorly."

"I’m sorry, sir," I said. "I didn’t mean to take your food."

"I baked me a maple syrup bread pudding in the Rhode Island style."

"My luck held, though; bullet went in and out fair clean."

"This war is not over, not by a long shot."

"Her proper name is Her Majesty, Queen Charlotte of Great Britain, Dutchess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz."

"You need strength to get through the winter," I added.

"The Queen isn’t coming. How could she? She’s got ten children to take care of, plus all them castles."

"I loves a good mince pie," he said as he unlocked the door to the prison, pie crumbs spilling from his mouth.

"I can’t take it," I started. "I cannot pay—"

"I cannot, sir." I was not fool enough to let the Patriots hurt me again.

"You represent this house, girl. Your visits could put us under suspicion of having rebel tendencies."

"My husband’s aunt is a blithering idiot who has completely lost her wits."

"I opened the book again and attacked the next sentence."

"It is honorable to help a friend in need."

"I’ll report the pair of you to the colonel if you don’t straighten up."

"I thought it pleased you when I left so much on my plate."

"They did not announce that the pork was often spoiled, nor that the men had to eat it raw for there was no fire to cook it over."

"I thought someone told him a falsehood."

"I’ve got to hem these breeches before the light fades."

"I hear tell you’re one of them who feeds the lads in the Bridewell."

"It’s a way for you to continue our fight for freedom."

"There’s plenty of us out here trying to help."

"You can’t come in," he said after I explained my errand. "Regulations been changed."

"He answered without moving. ‘No, Country. Are you?’"

"That’s a long voyage for a celebration," I said.

"I wished that there would have been space for Her Majesty, Queen Charlotte of Great Britain, to sign it too. She and me shared a birthday now, for I was reborn as Isabel Gardener and that paper proved it."

"THAT THE QUESTION WAS NOT WHETHER, BY A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, WE SHOULD MAKE OURSELVES WHAT WE ARE NOT; BUT WHETHER WE SHOULD DECLARE A FACT WHICH ALREADY EXISTS …" – THOMAS JEFFERSON

"I was quit of this place. I reached again for the handle. But she was alone, old, and maybe freezing. It would take only an instant."

I'm sorry," I said. "She's made up her mind to sell me.

"EVERYTHING THAT IS RIGHT OR REASONABLE PLEADS FOR SEPARATION. THE BLOOD OF THE SLAIN, THE WEEPING VOICE OF NATURE CRIES ’TIS TIME TO PART." – THOMAS PAINE, COMMON SENSE

"My plan was simple and foolhardy: steal a rowboat, cross the river to Jersey, and walk to Charleston."

"I prayed that the Lord and Momma would forgive the river of lies about to flow from my mouth."

"The stench was overpowering—men unwashed for months and puke and muck and rot that was eating living flesh."

"I rowed that river like it was a horse delivering me from the Devil."

"I think we just crossed the river Jordan."

"You will never again have to say 'Are you still working on that book?!' about Chains. You will have to say it about my new project."