"Let no man write my epitaph; for as no man who knows my motives dare now vindicate them, let not prejudice or ignorance asperse them. Let them rest in obscurity and peace! Let my memory be left in oblivion, my tomb remain uninscribed, until other times and other men can do justice to my character."

Robert Emmet, September 29, 1803
[From the Speech on the the eve of his execution
click here to read the text of the entire speech.]

"There are in every generation those who shrink from the ultimate sacrifice, but there are in every generation those who make it with joy and laughter and these are the salt of the generations."

Patrick Henry Pearse (1879–1916), Irish nationalist leader.
Commemoration address for Robert Emmet, March 2, 1914 in Brooklyn, New York.  Pearse was executed by the British in 1916 for his part in the Easter Rising.