Mercy Otis Warren

Mercy Otis Warren (September 25, 1728 – October 19, 1814) was an American activist poet, playwright, and pamphleteer during the American Revolution.

Mercy Otis Warren (circa 1763)

Quotes

• The rights of individuals ought to be the primary object of all government, and cannot be too securely guarded by the most explicit declarations in their favor.
  • Observations on the New Constitution (1788)

• America stands armed with resolution and virtue; but she still recoils at the idea of drawing the sword against the nation from whom she derived her origin. Yet Britain, like an unnatural parent, is ready to plunge her dagger into the bosom of her affectionate offspring.
  • Letter to Catherine Macaulay, The Women of the American Revolution. Mercy Warren (1849).

• I have my fears. Yet, notwithstanding the complicated difficulties that rise before us, there is no receding; and I should blush if in any instance the weak passions of my sex should damp the fortitude, the patriotism, and the manly resolution of yours. May nothing ever check that glorious spirit of freedom which inspires the patriot in the cabinet, and the hero in the field, with courage to maintain their righteous cause, and to endeavor to transmit the claim to posterity, even if they must seal the rich conveyance to their children with their own blood.
  • Letter to John Adams, August 1775, The Women of the American Revolution. Mercy Warren (1849).

• The thorns, the thistles, and the briers, in the field of politics seldom permit the soil to produce anything, but weariness to the body, vexation to the mind, and ruin to the adventurer.
  • Zagarri, Rosemarie (2015). A Woman's Dilemma : Mercy Otis Warren and the American Revolution. Hoboken : John Wiley & Sons Inc.. ISBN 978-1-118-98113-9. 

• Our situation is truly delicate & critical. On the one hand we are in need of a strong federal government founded on principles that will support the prosperity & union of the colonies. On the other we have struggled for liberty & made costly sacrifices at her shrine and there are still many among us who revere her name too much to relinquish (beyond a certain medium) the rights of man for the dignity of government.
  • Letter to Catherine Macaulay, Sept 1787 [1]

• Even the Italian master in politicks, the subtle and renouned Machiavel acknowledges, that no republic ever yet stood on a stable foundation without satisfying the common people.
  • Observations on the New Constitution (1788) [2]

• The waves have rolled in upon me, the billows have repeatedly broken over me: yet I am not sunk down.
  • Letter to Samuel Allyne Otis, 23 March 1800