Quotes from Lajos Kossuth

And if you cannot remain indifferent, you must resolve to throw your weight into that balance in which the fate and condition of man is weighed.

The protection of God cannot, without sacrilege, be invoked but in behalf of justice and right.

History is the revelation of Providence.

I have to thank the people, Congress and Government of the United States, for my liberation from captivity.

The cause of freedom is identified with the destinies of humanity, and in whatever part of the world it gains ground by and by, it will be a common gain to all those who desire it.

Your generous part in my liberation is taken by the world for the revelation of the fact, that the United States are resolved not to allow the despots of the world to trample on oppressed humanity.

Hungary is, in a word, in a state of WAR against the Hapsburg dynasty, a war of legitimate defence, by which alone it can ever regain independence and freedom.

You must be a power on earth, and must therefore accept all the consequences of this position.

Let him who looks for a monument to Washington look around the United States. Your freedom, your independence, your national power, your prosperity, and your prodigious growth are a monument to him.

Yet my humble capacity has not preserved me from calumnies.

Now that I am a deputy, I will cease to be an agitator.

The principle of evil in Europe is the enervating spirit of Russian absolutism.

In exile, I have tried to profit by the past and prepare for the future.

The policy of the house of Austria, which aimed at destroying the independence of Hungary as a state, has been pursued unaltered for three hundred years.

I have to thank the People, the Congress, and the Government of the United States for my liberation.

Men like me, who merely wish to establish political freedom, will in such circumstances lose all their influence, and others will get influence who may become dangerous to all established interests whatsoever.

The unspoken word never does harm.

The time draws near, when a radical change must take place for the whole world in the management of diplomacy.

If I had undertaken the practical direction of military operations, and anything went amiss, I feared that my conscience would torture me, as guilty of the fall of my country, as I had not been familiar with military tactics.

I consider no man honest who does not observe towards other nations the principles which he desires to be observed towards his own: and therefore I will not interfere in your domestic questions.

Argument is not always truth.

I came not to your glorious shores to enjoy a happy rest - I came not to gather triumphs of personal distinction, but as a humble petitioner, in my country's name, as its freely chosen constitutional leader, to entreat your generous aid.

The Hungarian ministry begged the king earnestly to issue orders to all troops and commanders of fortresses in Hungary, enjoining fidelity to the Constitution, and obedience to the ministers of Hungary.

I can understand Communism, but not Socialism.