“How oft, in nations gone corrupt,And by their own devices brought down to servitude,That man chooses bondage before liberty.Bondage with ease before strenuous liberty.”
“how wearisomEternity so spent in worship paidTo whom we hate. Let us not then pursueBy force impossible, by leave obtain'd Unacceptable, though in Heav'n, our stateOf splendid vassalage, but rather seekOur own good from our selves, and from our ownLive to our selves, though in this vast recess,Free, and to none accountable, preferring Hard liberty before the easie yokeOf servile Pomp”
“But to guide nations in the way of TruthBy saving Doctrine, and from error leadTo know, and knowing worship God aright,Is yet more knightly, this attracts the Soul,Governs the inner man, the nobler part,That other o'er the body only reigns,And oft by force, which to a generous mindso reigning can be no sincere delight.”
“Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose their place of rest, and Providence their guide: They hand in hand with wand'ring steps and slow, through Eden took their solitary way.”
“Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.”
“Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit/Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste/Brought death into the world, and all our woe,/With loss of Eden, till one greater Man/Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,/Sing heavenly muse”
“Not to know at large of things remoteFrom use, obscure and subtle, but to knowThat which before us lies in daily life,Is the prime wisdom.”