"On December 19, 1776, Thomas Paine publishes the essay "The American Crisis," a shot in the arm to Patriots during a particularly difficult stretch of the American Revolution. In it, he wrote:

"These are the times that try men's souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."