An example from German history (01.06.1780 – 16.11.1831)
I renounce:
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the imprudent hope of salvation by the hand of chance;
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the dull expectation of the future that an apathetic mind does not want to recognise;
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the childish hope of appeasing the wrath of a tyrant by voluntary disarming, and of winning his trust by base submissiveness and flattery;
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the false resignation of suppressed spiritual and mental capabilities;
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the unreasonable mistrust in the powers given to us by God;
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the sinful oblivion of all the duties for the general benefit;
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the shameless sacrifice of all the honour of the state and People, and of all personal human dignity!
I believe and profess:
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that a People must respect nothing higher than the dignity and freedom of its existence;
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that it must defend this with its last drop of blood;
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that it has no duty more holy to fulfil, and no higher law to obey;
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that the disgrace of cowardly bowing down can never be scoured;
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that this drop of poison in the blood of a People is passed on to the descendants, and that it will lame and undermine the strength of later generations;
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that you can lose your honour only once;
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....
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that a People is under most circumstances unconquerable in the courageous struggle for its freedom;
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that even the demise of this freedom after a bloody and honourable struggle ensures the rebirth of the People, and is the seed of life from which a new tree will one day surely grow!
I declare and assure to the world and posterity:
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that I consider the false wisdom which desires to withdraw from danger, to be the most pernicious harm that fear and fright can instil in a person;
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that I would consider wild desperation as the greater wisdom, if it were truly refused to us to fight with a manly spirit, i.e. to face danger with a calm, firm and resolute will, and a clear mind;
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that I will not forget the events of warning of the modern and passed age, the wise teachings of whole centuries, and the noble examples of renowned Peoples, in the frenzy of fear of our day, and abandon world history for the page of a mendacious newspaper;
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that I feel free from all egotism;
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that I am allowed to profess every thought and each feeling within me in front of all my fellow citizens;
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that I would be only too happy, to one day perish in the glorious struggle for the freedom and dignity of the fatherland!
