John Milton

Confusion worse confounded.

That old man, as you say, who is blind and poor, or, to use your own words, 'blind, poor, and an outcast,' is a person who, on the contrary, is rich, and content with his lot, and far from being an outcast, is held in greater honor than you are, by all good men.

To be more known, to be more loved, to be more praised, to be more admired, to be more sought after, to be more followed, to be more magnified, to be more glorified, to be more adored, to be more worshipped, to be more divinely honoured, to be more reverenced, to be more served, to be more blessed, to be more happy, to be more contented, to be more satisfied, to be more joyful, to be more triumphant, to be more glorious, to be more excellent, to be more perfect, to be more absolutely divine.

God made man to rule, and not to be ruled by others.

And from the bliss of Eden brought no more But tears for such as there had lived before.

Who can say that he who is not free is a man?

For indeed none can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license; which never hath more scope or more indulgence than under Tyrants.

License they mean when they cry, Liberty! For who loves that, must first be wise and good.

Truth…Let her and falsehood grapple. Who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?

There is no truth sure enough to justify persecution.

No man…can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free, being the image and resemblance of God himself.

It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.

Milton argued that might does not make right, rulers must conform to a higher law, and, if they fail to do so, those suffering under their rule are wholly justified in rebelling against their former leaders.