Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety - Ben Franklin

The fine print on this sticker says, "Though commonly attributed to Ben Franklin, and taken from the title page of a book published by Franklin, there is some doubt about who first penned these words." 

After reading a quote along these lines in a few places, I decided it was time to create a bumper sticker. But first, I wanted to make sure I had the quote right. I was familiar with a case in which another company published another quote about dissent as a sticker and mistakenly attributed the words to Thomas Jefferson.

When I decided to do this sticker, I was reading an essay by syndicated newspaper columnist Gene Lyons. Lyons quoted Franklin thus:  "Those that would give up essential liberty in pursuit of a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security."

But my Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations had it differently: "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Which one was correct? In search of the answer, I went online.  It turned out neither version was correct.

Researcher Richard Minsky sheds some light on the matter by providing a scan of the title page of a book, "An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania." Minsky explains that "I had to spend $1,000.00 to get a copy of the First Edition, which was published anonymously in London, 1759. The quote is on the title page. It is excerpted from a letter from the Assembly to the Governor of Pennsylvania in 1755."

Apparently, the statement has often been misquoted, even in respected quotation dictionaries.

Minsky goes on to explain that Ben Franklin published this book, though Franklin claimed not to have written it. The author of the book is believed to have been Richard Jackson. As for the quote on the title page, it is possible that Franklin wrote it, as many have believed, but if I understand Minsky correctly, there is no telling for sure who wrote it. However, at a minimum, it is probably safe to say that Franklin approved of the statement's prominent placement in the book he published.  

My bumper sticker endeavors to not only get the words right, but it also closely mimics the font style, spacing, and layout as it appears in  "An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania."  The main difference is that I have taken the liberty of adding Ben Franklin's name. 

Dan R. Frazier

Read Richard Minsky's comments on the origin of this quote and see the scan of the original quote as it appeared in "An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania."