--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon…" description: "\"If we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.\" — Samuel Adams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/samuel-adams-3491_circumspection_if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upo_299046.jpg" --- # If we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we… ![“If we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.” quote by Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/samuel-adams-3491_circumspection_if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upo_299046.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/samuel-adams-3491_circumspection_if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upo_299046.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/samuel-adams-3491_circumspection_if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upo_299046.jpg) > “If we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.” [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Passive acceptance of lawless attacks on liberty invites further oppression and collective doom. **In simple terms:** Ignoring attacks on freedom leads to worse outcomes. Key Takeaway Defend rights actively. Themes freedom civic duty resistance Mood urgent defensive Type political historical When to use this quote - protests - legal challenges - community vigilance Key Concepts political theory collective action Questions to Reflect On - What actions protect liberty without escalating conflict? - How can communities respond peacefully? A Different Perspective Resistance can become violent if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doom/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [Let us contemplate our forefathers, and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/let-us-contemplate-our-forefathers-and-posterity-and-resolve-to-2/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [The shame of the U.S.S. Liberty incident is that our sailors were treated as though they were enemies, rather than the patriots and heroes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-abourezk/the-shame-of-the-u-s-s-liberty-incident-is-that-our-sailors-were/) James Abourezk > [We believe. We believe in our destiny as a nation. We believe we have been called to do good, to spread the blessings of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-snow/we-believe-we-believe-in-our-destiny-as-a-nation-we-believe-we-have/) [Tony Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-snow/) > [The commitment to civil liberty is going to be reasserted strongly. But the concept of liberty is under attack, and our definition of insecurity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/the-commitment-to-civil-liberty-is-going-to-be-reasserted-strongly/) [Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/) > [The necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/the-necessity-of-the-times-more-than-ever-calls-for-our-utmost/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [Let us contemplate our forefathers, and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/let-us-contemplate-our-forefathers-and-posterity-and-resolve-to/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [When it shall please God to bring thee to man's estate, use great providence and circumspection in choosing thy wife. For from thence will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/when-it-shall-please-god-to-bring-thee-to-man-s-estate-use-great/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [Life is life. You do a lot of different things and you have great adventures but there's not a lot to talk about unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-plant/life-is-life-you-do-a-lot-of-different-things-and-you-have-great/) [Robert Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-plant/) > [“Eloquence in public assemblies is not the surest road to fame and preferment, at least unless it be used with great caution, very rarely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/eloquence-in-public-assemblies-is-not-the-surest-road-to-fame-and/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [By playing at Chess then, we may learn... First: Foresight. Second: Circumspection. Third: Caution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/by-playing-at-chess-then-we-may-learn-first-foresight-second/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Caution is the daughter of circumspection, but she tends to outgrow her mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/caution-is-the-daughter-of-circumspection-but-she-tends-to-outgrow/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [“What was needed now was not bravery, but circumspection.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/what-was-needed-now-was-not-bravery-but-circumspection/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [“You're thinking about something, and it makes you forget to talk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/you-re-thinking-about-something-and-it-makes-you-forget-to-talk/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [Descrimate between persons who are interacting with you in your personal life on regular basis, and treat them accordingly. A high level of circumspection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chandrababu-vs/descrimate-between-persons-who-are-interacting-with-you-in-your/) [Chandrababu VS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chandrababu-vs/) > [A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double circumspection; for her beauty will tempt others, her poverty herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-beautiful-woman-if-poor-should-use-double-circumspection-for-her/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## More by Samuel Adams > [Every one knows that the exercise of military power is forever dangerous to civil rights; and we have had recent instances of violences that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/every-one-knows-that-the-exercise-of-military-power-is-forever/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/crouch-down-and-lick-the-hands-which-feed-you-may-your-chains-sit/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/our-contest-is-not-only-whether-we-ourselves-shall-be-free-but/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [In the midst of these pleasing ideas we should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/in-the-midst-of-these-pleasing-ideas-we-should-be-unfaithful-to/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [It behooves every American to encourage home manufactures, that our oppressors may feel through their pockets the effects of their blind folly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/it-behooves-every-american-to-encourage-home-manufactures-that-our/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [All might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they should.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/all-might-be-free-if-they-valued-freedom-and-defended-it-as-they/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; second, to liberty; third, to property; together with the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/among-the-natural-rights-of-the-colonists-are-these-first-a-right-to/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [Nil desperandum, -- Never Despair. That is a motto for you and me. All are not dead; and where there is a spark of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/nil-desperandum-never-despair-that-is-a-motto-for-you-and-me-all-are/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/if-ye-love-wealth-better-than-liberty-the-tranquility-of-servitude/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [It is not unfrequent to hear men declaim loudly upon liberty, who, if we may judge by the whole tenor of their actions, mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/it-is-not-unfrequent-to-hear-men-declaim-loudly-upon-liberty-who-if/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [Let us contemplate our forefathers, and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/let-us-contemplate-our-forefathers-and-posterity-and-resolve-to/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [I thank God that I have lived to see my country independent and free. She may long enjoy her independence and freedom if she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/i-thank-god-that-i-have-lived-to-see-my-country-independent-and-free/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [If our Trade be taxed, why not our Lands, or Produce in short, everything we possess? They tax us without having legal representation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/if-our-trade-be-taxed-why-not-our-lands-or-produce-in-short/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [One battle would do more towards a Declaration of Independence than a long chain of conclusive arguments in a provincial convention or the Continental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/one-battle-would-do-more-towards-a-declaration-of-independence-than-a/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [Give credit to whom credit due.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/give-credit-to-whom-credit-due/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) [Explore all 129 Samuel Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) ## More Circumspection quotes > [A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double circumspection; for her beauty will tempt others, her poverty herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-beautiful-woman-if-poor-should-use-double-circumspection-for-her/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Descrimate between persons who are interacting with you in your personal life on regular basis, and treat them accordingly. A high level of circumspection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chandrababu-vs/descrimate-between-persons-who-are-interacting-with-you-in-your/) [Chandrababu VS](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chandrababu-vs/) > [“You're thinking about something, and it makes you forget to talk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/you-re-thinking-about-something-and-it-makes-you-forget-to-talk/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [“What was needed now was not bravery, but circumspection.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/what-was-needed-now-was-not-bravery-but-circumspection/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [Caution is the daughter of circumspection, but she tends to outgrow her mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/caution-is-the-daughter-of-circumspection-but-she-tends-to-outgrow/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [By playing at Chess then, we may learn... First: Foresight. Second: Circumspection. Third: Caution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/by-playing-at-chess-then-we-may-learn-first-foresight-second/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Let us contemplate our forefathers, and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/let-us-contemplate-our-forefathers-and-posterity-and-resolve-to/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [“Eloquence in public assemblies is not the surest road to fame and preferment, at least unless it be used with great caution, very rarely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/eloquence-in-public-assemblies-is-not-the-surest-road-to-fame-and/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Life is life. You do a lot of different things and you have great adventures but there's not a lot to talk about unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-plant/life-is-life-you-do-a-lot-of-different-things-and-you-have-great/) [Robert Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-plant/) > [When it shall please God to bring thee to man's estate, use great providence and circumspection in choosing thy wife. For from thence will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/when-it-shall-please-god-to-bring-thee-to-man-s-estate-use-great/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [In proportion to the value of this revolution; in proportion to the importance of instruments, every word of which decides a question between power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/in-proportion-to-the-value-of-this-revolution-in-proportion-to-the/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [It is not therefore the business of philosophy, in our present situation in the universe, to attempt to take in at once, in one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-maclaurin/it-is-not-therefore-the-business-of-philosophy-in-our-present/) Colin Maclaurin > [The necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/the-necessity-of-the-times-more-than-ever-calls-for-our-utmost/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [I appreciate my instincts, but my instincts can be dead wrong. Circumspection can give you time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-hunter/i-appreciate-my-instincts-but-my-instincts-can-be-dead-wrong/) [Holly Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-hunter/) > [Prudent and active men, who know their strength and use it with limit and circumspection, alone go far in the affairs of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/prudent-and-active-men-who-know-their-strength-and-use-it-with-limit/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) Browse all 43 Circumspection quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Adams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upon-our-liberty-we-encourage-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Circumspection" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upon-our-liberty-we-encourage-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/samuel-adams-3491_circumspection_if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upo_299046.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/samuel-adams-3491_circumspection_if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upo_299046.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/56d/samuel-adams-3491_circumspection_if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upo_299046.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.” — Samuel Adams", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Samuel Adams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If we suffer tamely a lawless...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upon-our-liberty-we-encourage-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/if-we-suffer-tamely-a-lawless-attack-upon-our-liberty-we-encourage-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```