"Live Free or Die" is the official motto of the U.S. state of New Hampshire, adopted by the state in 1945. It is possibly the best-known of all state mottos, partly because it speaks to an assertive independence historically found in American political philosophy and partly because of its contrast to the milder sentiments found in other state mottos.
The phrase comes from a toast written by General John Stark on July 31, 1809. Poor health forced Stark, New Hampshire's most famous soldier of the American Revolutionary War, to decline an invitation to an anniversary reunion of the Battle of Bennington. Instead, he sent his toast by letter:
- Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils.
The motto was enacted at the same time as the state emblem, on which it appears.
Read more about Live Free Or Die: Legal Battle, Similar Mottos
Famous quotes containing the words free or die, live free, live, free and/or die:
“We must be free or die, who speak the tongue
That Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals hold
Which Milton held.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“Live free, child of the mist,—and with respect to knowledge we are all children of the mist.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The drama’s laws, the drama’s patrons give,
For we that live to please, must please to live.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“Can a free people restrain crime without sacrificing fundamental liberties and a heritage of compassion?... Let us show that we can temper together those opposite elements of liberty and restraint into one consistent whole. Let us set an example for the world of a law-abiding America glorying in its freedom as well as its respect for law.”
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“Adultery? Thou shalt not die. Die for adultery!
No, the wren goes to’t, and the small gilded fly
Does lecher in my sight. Let copulation thrive.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)