I passed by a statue of Wendell Phillips in the Boston Common this evening. Phillips was an influential abolitionist and champion of Native American rights, a firebrand. A quote of his was carved on the pedestal:

Whether in chains or in laurels, liberty knows nothing but victories.

Maybe it was the air or the phase of the moon, but it moved me in a way that quotes on statues traditionally fail to do, and it’s been humming through my head ever since.