Treason Quotes
More Treason Quotes
In monarchy the crime of treason may admit of being pardoned or lightly punished, but the man who dares rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death.
Samuel Adams— Arguing for a Riot Act which prohibited 12 or more persons from congregating in public and which empowered county sheriffs to kill rioters, during debates prompted by Shays' Rebellion (1786 - 1787) and the death sentences given to many of the rebels; as quoted in Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States (1980), Chapter 5: A kind of Revolution; also quoted in "Completing the American Revolution" by Norman D. Livergood
We have no more right to decline the exercise of jurisdiction which is given, than to usurp that which is not given. The one or the other would be treason to the constitution.
john marshall— Cohens v. Virginia, 19 U.S. (6 Wheaton) 264, 387 (1821); with this sentence Marshall hold that the United States Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction to hear appeals from a state court in a case between a state and its own citizens, even if the case involved interpretation of a federal statute.
They do not ill, being lords of ours, to slay Me; nay, they could not spare: but thee to slay, To spill thy strong young life for truth to me, In all men's eyes would mark them monstrous:;: thou Must live, and serve my slayers, and serving them Sustain my memory by the proof if God Shall give thee grace to prove it that thy name, Thy father's name and mine, in true men's ears Rings truth, and means not treason.
algernon charles swinburne— Faliero, Act V. Sc. 3.
Corporations cannot commit treason, nor be outlawed, nor excommunicate, for they have no souls.
edward coke— Edward Coke, Case of Sutton's Hospital (1612), 5 Rep. 303; 10 Rep. 32 b.
Smooth runs the water, where the brook is deep; And in his simple show he harbours treason.
— Suffolk, scene i
T'abhor the makers, and their laws approve, Is to hate traitors and the treason love.
john dryden— 1687 The Hind and the Panther, pt.3, l.706-7.
The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason.
— 1935 Murder in the Cathedral, pt.1.
treason doth never prosper, what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.
— 1618 Epigrams, bk.4, no.5.
Pension. Pay given to state hireling for treason to his country.
— 1755 A Dictionary of the English Language.
This principle is old, but true as fate,—Kings may love treason, but the traitor hate.
thomas dekker— The Honest Whore (1604), Part i, Act iv. Sc. 4.
— Compare: "Cæsar said he loved the treason, but hated the traitor", Plutarch, Life of Romulus.
— Compare: "treason is loved of many, but the Traitor hated of all", Robert Greene, Pandosto (1588).
Ah Franion, treason is loved of many, but the Traitor hated of all: unjust offences may for a time escape without danger, but never without revenge.
Robert Greene— Pandosto (1588); p. 9.
— Compare: "Cæsar said he loved the treason, but hated the traitor", Plutarch, Life of Romulus.
— Compare: "This principle is old, but true as fate,—Kings may love treason, but the traitor hate." Thomas Dekker, The Honest Whore (1604).
treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason.
john harington— Epigrams, Book iv, Epistle 5. Compare: "Prosperum ac felix scelus/ Virtus vocatur" ("Successful and fortunate crime/ is called virtue"), Seneca, Herc. Furens, ii. 250.
Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell; and George the Third — ["treason!" cried the Speaker] — may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.
patrick henry— Speech on the Stamp Act, Virginia House of Burgesses (29 May 1765)
They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don't give you any choice 'cause they think that it's treason. So you had better do as you are told. You better listen to the radio.
elvis costello— Radio Radio
Whereas fortitude was once regarded as a virtue, it has come to be regarded as a kind of reprehensible and deliberate obtuseness, to be utterly condemned as treason to the self (there is no fury like a non-judgmentalist scorned).
anthony daniels— Bad counsel (June 2005)
T' abhor the makers, and their laws approve, Is to hate traitors and the treason love.
john dryden— Pt. III line 706-707.
Ah, when to the heart of man Was it ever less than a treason To go with the drift of things, To yield with a grace to reason, And bow and accept the end Of a love or a season?
robert frost— "Reluctance", st. 4 (1913)
In monarchy the crime of treason may admit of being pardoned or lightly punished, but the man who dares rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death.
— Samuel Adams, Arguing for a Riot Act which prohibited 12 or more persons from congregating in public and which empowered county sheriffs to kill rioters, during debates prompted by Shays' Rebellion (1786 - 1787) and the death sentences given to many of the rebels; as quoted in Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States (1980) Chapter 5 : A kind of Revolution; also quoted in "Completing the American Revolution" by Norman D. Livergood
This principle is old, but true as fate, Kings may love treason, but the traitor hate.
thomas dekker— Thomas Dekker, The Honest Whore (1604), Part I, Act IV, scene 4.
The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.
— T. S. Eliot in Murder in the Cathedral (1935).
treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason.
— Sir John Harrington, Epigrams, Book IV, Epigram V.
Tarquin and Cæsar had each his Brutus Charles the First, his Cromwell and George the Third ("treason!" shouted the Speaker) may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it.
— Patrick Henry, speech (1765). (Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations)
For while the treason I detest, The traitor still I love.
— John Hoole, Metastatio, Romulus and Hersilia, Act I, scene 5.
In countries where royalty is upheld, it is a special offence to rob the crown jewels, which are the emblems of that sovereignty before which the loyal subject bows, and it is treason to be found in adultery with the Queen, for in this way may a false heir be imposed upon the State; but in our Republic, the ballot-box is the single priceless jewel of that sovereignty which we respect, and the electoral franchise, out of which are born the rulers of a free people, is the Queen whom we are to guard against pollution.
— Charles Sumner in his The Crime Against Kansas speech (May 19-20, 1856).
Men will confess to treason, murder, arson, false teeth, or a wig. How many of them will own up to a lack of humour?
— Frank Moore Colby, (1926) The Colby Essays, Vol. 1., "Satire and Teeth". Reported in Robert Andrews, The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, Columbia University Press. (1993) ISBN 0231071949. p. 431
treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on the confession in open court.
— Article III of the U.S. Constitution
treason is a charge invented by winners as an excuse for hanging the losers.
— Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards' musical 1776 (character of Benjamin Franklin).
treason is not own'd when 'tis descried; Successful crimes alone are justified.
john dryden— John Dryden, Medals, line 207.
