Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations. 1989.
| NUMBER: | 1921 |
| AUTHOR: | Patrick Henry (1736–99) |
| QUOTATION: | Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation—the last arguments to which kings resort. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | For information on the authenticity of the text of this speech, see the notes at No. 1061. |
| SUBJECTS: | War |