I would rather be a freeman ...

I would rather be a freeman among slaves than a slave among freemen.
I would rather be a freeman among slaves than a slave among freemen.

More phrases

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.
I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind.
 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err.
The amount of happiness that you have depends on the amount of freedom you have in your heart.
 Thích Nhất Hạnh
Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom - and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.

Quotes from the same author

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought.
Men are happy to be laughed at for their humor, but not for their folly.
The two maxims of any great man at court are, always to keep his countenance, and never to keep his word.
Men of great parts are often unfortunate in the management of public business, because they are apt to go out of the common road by the quickness of their imagination.
Men who possess all the advantages of life are in a state where there are many accidents to disorder and discompose, but few to please them.