Born on July 24, 1783 in the Venezuelan city of Caracas, Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan politician and military man known for having fought for the liberation of some countries such as Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela.
Bolívar is undoubtedly one of the most important Latin American figures in history and today, a large number of historical monuments erected in his honor can still be found in some countries.
If you want to know a little more about him or would like to know what some of his most notable quotes were, keep reading. Here you will find a selection of the best phrases of Simón Bolívar known as the Liberator.
Born on July 24, 1783 in Caracas, Simón Bolívar, was a political and military leader who marked the History of Latin American countries, since He led several confrontation campaigns against the Spanish Empire through which the landowning creole class of several regions of South America managed to become the ruling class of several new, newly independent countries. His career, which earned him the title of “The Liberator”, made him participate in the drafting of several constitutions of these newly created nations in the 19th century, as a legislator. Thus, Bolívar is a key figure in the secession of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, by managing to gain the favor of the Creoles and the English superpower, which saw in this Venezuelan politician a useful agent to wear down the Spanish Empire.
These are the most interesting and remembered reflections and phrases of Simón Bolívar, accompanied by some comments about the content of these quotes.
1. A being without studies is an incomplete being.
Education should always be one of the basic pillars from which any society is organized. An idea that in those times was widely disseminated by this famous Venezuelan politician.
2. Slavery is a daughter of darkness.
Although fortunately human slavery is now part of the past, at that time it could still unfortunately be found very commonly. Luckily, thanks to people like Simón Bolívar, it ended up disappearing.
3. Flee from the country where only one person exercises all powers: it is a country of slaves.
As Bolívar tells us, if a country is led by a single person, it will undoubtedly always be a dictatorship and in addition, we must take into account that this nation will most likely at some point also end up having very few freedoms for its citizens.
4. The teaching of good customs or social habits is as essential as instruction.
The first thing that a person must always learn is to behave within society, acquiring basic values and minimally decent ways of acting.
5. The way to govern well is to employ honest men, even if they are enemies.
A good leader must always surround himself with the most capable men at his disposal, regardless of whether they have a good relationship with each other or not.
6. Instinct is a loyal advisor; while pedantry is a mephitic air that drowns out good feelings.
By learning to read between the lines we will discover that there are many people who want to deceive us, although with a little insight it will be very easy for us to be able to distinguish who is really sincere and who is not.
7. The good and valuable man must be indifferent to the shocks of bad luck.
Even if luck is not with us we must always fight for our ideals. If we have faith and are persistent, in the end we will achieve our personal goals.
8. You must all work for the inestimable good of the union: the people obeying the current government, to free themselves from anarchy; the ministers of the sanctuary directing their prayers to heaven; and the military using their sword to defend social guarantees.
Only if Venezuelans, Bolivians and Colombians did their part would all these nations be able to prosper over time. Once these countries were freed from the colonial yoke, their own inhabitants were in charge of building them from scratch.
9. Liberator of Venezuela: a more glorious and satisfactory title, for me, than the scepter of all the empires on Earth.
This soldier was always very proud of all his achievements, something very logical considering that the freedom of Hispanic Americans was always his greatest personal ambition.
10. The man of honor has no homeland other than that in which the rights of citizens are protected and the sacred character of humanity is respected.
As human beings we must always respect the rights of everyone around us, regardless of their social position or educational level.
11. Trust must give us peace. Good faith is not enough, it must be shown, because men always see and rarely think.
For a country to develop effectively it must always be at peace with its neighbors, since war is something that in one way or another always ends up causing much more harm than benefit.
12. Colombians! My last wishes are for the happiness of the country.
Many of his most famous quotes were always aimed at trying to foster cohesion among Hispanic Americans, something that was undoubtedly very important for Latin America to eventually become the region it is today.
13. Let us form a homeland at all costs and everything else will be tolerable.
To begin to solve the problems of a region, you must first have control over it, because as a well-known popular saying says, the house is always You should start with the foundation and not with the roof.
14. A people is a slave when the government, due to its essence or its vices, leaves its mark and usurps the rights of the citizen or subject.
It is always the leader who must always be at the service of his people and not the opposite, because otherwise we must know that we would really find ourselves living immersed in a dictatorship.
15. Compatriots, weapons will give you independence, laws will give you freedom.
A state without law is a state doomed to failure and as Simón Bolívar knew very well, he always established tight legislative control in those countries that he managed to emancipate.
16. The military spirit in the civil command is unbearable.
Civil life and military life are really very different, which is why political leaders and military commanders always have different ways of communicating.
17. Our disagreements have their origin in the two most abundant sources of public calamity: ignorance and weakness.
He believed that an uneducated people will always be at the mercy of their leaders and for this reason, he did not hesitate to establish mandatory education wherever he went.
18. We need to gather all our forces to achieve a coup capable of changing the country’s fortunes.
Although he was of Venezuelan origin, his military actions allowed the liberation of Bolivia and Gran Colombia, which is why over time this famous soldier obtained the position of Liberator.
19. As I love freedom, I have noble and liberal feelings; and if I tend to be severe, it is only with those who seek to destroy us.
Although Bolívar was always a great defender of personal freedoms as we can see in this quote, he would not hesitate to use any type of weapon against anyone who tried to harm the rights of the Hispanic American people.
20. States are slaves by the nature of their constitution or by the abuse of it.
The constitution is the main rules by which a nation is organized, although when the time comes, if the people are dissatisfied with something it dictates, there must always be a way for its subsequent modification.
21. Legislators certainly need a school of morality.
Laws should always be based in the first instance on morality and on the main idea that we should not wish on others what we do not wish them to do to us.
22. It is more difficult to remove a people from slavery than to subjugate a free one.
When a people knows the value of freedom, it will never again allow its subjugation, since Emiliano Zapata and Che Guevara already said it at the time: I would rather die standing than live on my knees.
23. I love the freedom of America more than my own glory, and to achieve it I have spared no sacrifices.
This soldier was totally willing to give his life for the freedom of the Spanish-American people, something undoubtedly worthy of admiration that more than one leader should perhaps try to emulate today.
24. Unity does everything and, therefore, we must preserve this precious principle.
Bolívar believed that If the Latin people remained united, the tyrants would sooner or later be defeated something very logical if we take into account the main premise that unity always makes strength.
25. All the peoples of the world who have fought for freedom have finally exterminated their tyrants.
The revolution always ends with the elimination of the tyrant, because if the revolutionaries did not do it this way, the defeated leader could eventually try to seize power again.
26. The continuity of authority in the same individual has frequently been the term of democratic governments. Repeated elections are essential in popular systems.
When a leader manages to remain in office, sooner or later he will tend to become corrupt, which is why it is so important that mandates must have a limited duration in time.
27. It is difficult to do justice to those who have offended us.
The offenses were so great in those times that death always seemed the most just punishment, something that should not surprise us considering that Simón Bolívar lived between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century.
28. Freedom before literature.
Although education is very important, we must keep in mind that freedom is the most fundamental right that exists, since no person can live a minimally dignified life if all of their freedoms are not guaranteed.
29. Public jobs belong to the State; They are not private property. No one who does not have integrity, aptitudes and merits is worthy of them.
The civil service, as happens in some countries today, was plagued by corruption, something that undoubtedly had to be changed in order to create a more just and equitable society.
30. We are neither Indians nor Europeans, but a middle species between the legitimate owners of the country and the Spanish usurpers.
Although he was very aware of the miscegenation that his people had experienced, love for the country was always his main motivation and under his criteria, the Spanish colonists had to be extracted from the control of the institutions if Latin America wanted to be able to prosper.
31. It is always noble to conspire against tyranny, against usurpation and against a desolating and harmless war.
Although some people could conspire against him, his objectives were always very clear and these were always to fight against the injustice, tyranny and plunder that Latin America was experiencing at that time.
32. The American people yoked to the triple yoke of ignorance, tyranny and vice, we have not been able to acquire knowledge, power, or virtue.
According to Bolívar, the Hispanic American people had been contaminated with all kinds of misfortunes and it was precisely for this reason that when they achieved emancipation they had to make sure to grant good values to the next generations.
33. Good customs, and not force, are the columns of the laws; and the exercise of justice is the exercise of freedom.
Justice must always be a guarantee of freedom and not a tool through which some people can oppress an entire people.
34. The violence of force carries with it the principles of its own destruction.
Excessive violence can become the end of a society, which is why during any escalation of war, both contenders must always measure all their actions very well.
35. Justice is the queen of republican virtues and with it equality and freedom are sustained.
Justice must always be one of the main pillars by which a nation is built something that unfortunately did not always happen in the past.
36. Let us not aspire to the impossible, lest by rising above the region of freedom, we descend to the region of tyranny.
This soldier knew very well that any nation must choose its leaders with the utmost care, otherwise it could go from glory to shame in just the blink of an eye.
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37. If a man were necessary to support the State, that State should not exist; and in the end it would not exist.
A nation cannot dedicate its existence to a certain leader because if it did so, it would end up disappearing when he was no longer with us.
38. If life is two days I want to live them with you and only you!
Love for his country and his loved ones was always one of his main premises; to a large extent it was for them that Bolívar was even willing to give his life.
39. I am always faithful to the liberal and just system that my country proclaimed.
It was undoubtedly thanks to great historical figures like Simón Bolívar that Latin America managed to become what it is today, a place where personal freedoms are included within all national constitutions.
Dedicating your life to the glory of your people is for some people an honor, a way of dedicating your life to something greater than your own satisfaction.
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41. I despised degrees and distinctions. I aspired to a more honorable destiny: to shed my blood for the freedom of my country.
As he himself tells us in this quote, he would never hesitate to give his life for his nation. The ultimate sacrifice was always for him, possibly the most honorable way that existed to die.
42. Dictatorship is the stumbling block of republics.
Dictatorships represent a great injustice for a large part of society, which is why the people should always be the ones who have total control of the institutions.
43. Tyrants cannot approach the invincible walls of Colombia without atoning with their impure blood for the audacity of their delusions.
Those who had harmed the Colombian people in the past had to pay for all their actions and the Venezuelan politician Simón Bolívar was fully willing to enforce this mandate.
44. We sadly contemplate that almost the entire Earth has been, and still is, a victim of its governments.
A bad government can greatly drain the wealth of any nation That is why we must always be very careful with whom we decide to support the government of our society.
45. In the order of human vicissitudes it is not always the majority of the physical mass that decides, but rather it is the superiority of moral force that tips the political balance towards itself.
As human beings we must never let ourselves be carried away by general opinion, we must always be fully consistent with our values and principles.
46. An ignorant people is a blind instrument of its own destruction.
An ignorant people is always much easier to manipulate, which is why many leaders of the past always held access to education with great suspicion.
47. A happy soldier does not acquire any right to command his country. He is not the arbiter of laws or government. He is a defender of his freedom.
A soldier should always see himself as a protector and not a ruler. Carrying a weapon is something that does not make you someone more powerful but rather someone with a greater responsibility towards your people.
48. In the shadow of mystery only crime works.
Crime has always been an activity that has moved in the shadow of society and in those years, this is something that happened just as it also happens today.
49. Chess is a useful and honest game, indispensable in the education of youth.
Chess is a game thanks to which people can learn to organize our thoughts in a much more efficient way, an activity that, as Bolívar tells us, can be very beneficial for the development of any child.
50. If my death contributes to the cessation of the parties and the consolidation of the union, I will go down peacefully to the grave.
He was always very clear about the main purpose of all his actions and as he himself tells us in this quote, he would always be willing to do anything with the idea that Spanish-American emancipation could be achieved.
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51. If nature opposes us, we will fight against it and make it obey us.
Human beings believe they are capable of controlling nature and as we can see in this quote, Simón Bolívar was no exception to the rule in this case.
52. Morals and enlightenment are our first needs.
Bolívar wanted to promote a more just and equitable society, a society where every boy and every girl could go to school regardless of their purchasing power.
53. The fairest punishment is that which one imposes on oneself.
A quote that undoubtedly holds great truth. In the vast majority of cases we ourselves are our most ruthless executioners.
54. Calling yourself a boss but not being one is the height of misery.
At that time the landowner was the real boss the others as workers were only employees regardless of what position they might hold.
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55. Cursed be the soldier who turns his weapons against his people.
The soldier should always be a protector and not a perpetrator, as he put it.
56. The United States seems destined by providence to plague America with misery in the name of freedom.
In this quote we can discover the enmity that Bolívar felt towards the United States. It seems that for him they always represented certain interests of some businessmen from North America.
57. Nothing is as dangerous as letting the same citizen remain in power for a long time. The people get used to obeying him and he gets used to commanding them, that is where usurpation and tyranny originate.
When a leader remains in office, sooner or later he will fall into the hands of corruption something that as we see happened in those times and that still happens today.
58. The perfect system of government is one that produces the greatest amount of possible happiness, the greatest amount of social security and the greatest amount of political stability.
This soldier always fought for the rights of his fellow citizens and was always very clear about the premise that it was their future well-being that drove him the most.
59. He who commands must hear even the harshest truths and, after hearing them, must take advantage of them to correct the evils caused by errors.
Some people had to realize how unfair society was in those times; That is why this famous soldier came to utter some quotes as eloquent as this one that we can see here.
60. We cannot have traitors in the ranks, otherwise we would lose our country.
A false step could have become the end of the revolution, this is an idea that Bolívar always had in mind and that is why he always acted very cautiously.
I’m Emily Williams Jones, a psychologist specializing in mental health with a focus on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness. With a Ph.D. in psychology, my career has spanned research, clinical practice and private counseling. I’m dedicated to helping individuals overcome anxiety, depression and trauma by offering a personalized, evidence-based approach that combines the latest research with compassionate care.
