Benito Juarez was born on March 21, 1806 into grinding poverty in San Pablo Guelatao, a small town in the Oaxaca mountains. He was of pure indigenous blood. However, with his strength and courage, he became a lawyer and, beginning in his student days, he began a lengthy political career that would take him across a number of political posts: Oaxaca Congressman, Governor of Oaxaca, Minister for Justice and President of the Country. He was a key figure in Mexico's march to modernization. Many remember him as the Abraham Lincoln of Mexico for his incesant fight for human rights and justice.
1. "I have always tried to do everything that's been in my power to defend and sustain our institutions. I have demonstrated in my public life that I loyally serve my country and that I love freedom. It has been my sole purpose to propose what I think best for your highest interests, which are to strengthen peace in the future and strengthen our institutions."
2. "Let us trust that all Mexicans, taught by the prolonged and painful experience of the calamities of war, will cooperate in the future for the wellbeing and the prosperity of the nation, which can only be obtained through an undoubted respect for the law and an obedience to the authorities elected by the people."
3. "As a son of the people, I could never forget that my only goal should be their greater prosperity."
4. "Freedom for me is the sacred right to think ... education is the fundamental part for social happiness: it is the principle on which liberty rests, and the growth of all towns."
5. "Men are nothing, principles are everything."
6. "Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace."
7. "The emission of ideas by the press ought to be as free as the human capacity for thought."
8. "The government has a sacred duty to address the nation and make it listen to the voice of its greatest rights and interests."
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