You know the one, “He who would give up freedom for security deserves neither”. Oft quoted in these times of freedom sacrificing security measures.
My question is, is this REALLY a quote from Ben? If so, in what context was this uttered? Is it in a published work of his? Did he belt it out as an angry response to some early overzealous congressman who wanted to enact Ye Old Patriot Act in those times of the War Against The Terrible Monarchy? Or, as the cynical side of me wonders, was this really a quote from some nobody newspaper editor who said something like, “Ben Franklin would be proud of me when I say…”
It sure seems like everybody famous these days gets some memorable quote misattributed to them. So what’s the Straight Dope?