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Freedom

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“Not pleasure, not glory, not power: freedom, only freedom.”
Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Irons and the unbreathable air of this world strip us of everything, except the freedom to kill ourselves; and this freedom grants us a strength and pride to triumph over the loads which overwhelm us.”
Emil Cioran (1911–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think that democratic communities have a natural taste for freedom: left to themselves, they will seek it, cherish it, and view any privation of it with regret. But for equality, their passion is ardent, insatiable, incessant, invincible: they call for equality in freedom; and if they cannot obtain that, they still call for equality in slavery.”
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He who seeks freedom for anything but freedom's self is made to be a slave.”
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today the whole world is divided: divided between human slavery and human freedom- between pagan brutality and the Christian ideal. We choose human freedom, which is the Christian ideal.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) first seen 1941 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech on May 27, 1941
“How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech.”
Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) said by 1855 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They fought because they were paid for it; they were not interested very much in the conquest of Greece. The Athenians on the other hand, fought for their freedom. They preferred to die rather than lose their freedom, and those who are prepared to die for any cause are seldom defeated.”
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the defeat of the forces of Darius the Great of Persia at the Battle of Marathon, in Glimpses of World History; Being Further Letters to His Daughter, Written In Prison, And Containing A Rambling Account of History F…
“Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in the ancient Greek republics: freedom for the slave-owners.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All over the world, wherever there are capitalists, freedom of the press means freedom to buy up newspapers, to buy writers, to bribe, buy and fake “public opinion” for the benefit of the bourgeoisie.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.”
Salman Rushdie (born 1947) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Imaginary Homelands p. 391 (1992)
“Where freedom is real, equality is the passion of the masses. Where equality is real, freedom is the passion of a small minority.”
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There can be no freedom without freedom to fail.”
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm tired of the ayatollahs of the right wing. We're fighting for freedom in Iraq. We're going to fight for freedom in America.”
Howard Dean (born 1948) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fundraiser for the Maine Democratic Party at the Lewiston Armory, October 22, 2005
“The destiny of the spiritual World, and, — since this is the substantial World, while the physical remains subordinate to it, or, in the language of speculation, has no truth as against the spiritual, — the final cause of the World at large, we allege to be the consciousness of its own freedom on the part of Spirit, and ipso facto, the reality of that freedom.”
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) said by 1831 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you focus your mind on the freedom and community that you can build by staying firm, you will find the strength to do it. "Stand for something, or you will fall for nothing." And if cynics ridicule freedom, ridicule community...if "hard nosed realists" say that profit is the only ideal...just ignore them, and use copyleft all the same.”
Richard Stallman (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To have the choice between proprietary software packages, is being able to choose your master. Freedom means not having a master. And in the area of computing, freedom means not using proprietary software.”
Richard Stallman (born 1953) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Free Software and Beyond: Human Rights in the Use of Software", address at Goeteborg, Sweden (May 16, 2007)
“Hegel was the first to state correctly the relation between freedom and necessity. To him, freedom is the insight into necessity.”
Friedrich Engels (1820–1895) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Anti-Dühring, pt. 1, ch. 11 (1877)
“The condition every art requires is, not so much freedom from restriction, as freedom from adulteration and from the intrusion of foreign matter.”
Willa Cather (1873–1947) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Four Letters: Escapism" (1936)
“The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings, capable of laws, where there is no law there is no freedom.”
John Locke (1632–1704) said by 1704 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is a strange fact that freedom and equality, the two basic ideas of democracy, are to some extent contradictory. Logically considered, freedom and equality are mutually exclusive, just as society and the individual are mutually exclusive.”
Thomas Mann (1875–1955) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech, "The War and the Future" (1940); published in Order of the Day (1942)
“What is freedom? There is no such thing as absolute freedom!”
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Eja! Eja! Alala!" in Time magazine (23 July 1923)
“We are losing a lot of people to the Internet. We have to do something. We have to go see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what's happening. We have to talk to them [about], maybe in certain areas, closing that Internet up in some way. Some people will say, ‘Freedom of speech, Freedom of speech'. These are foolish people.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Google's Eric Schmidt calls for 'spell-checkers for hate and harassment', 8 December 2015, by Alex Hern.
“They say, ‘we don’t need him, freedom, freedom, he’s a dictator, he’s a dictator.’ A lot of people are saying, ‘Maybe we would like a dictator.’ I don’t like a dictator; I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense, and I’m a smart person.”
Donald Trump (born 1946) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Trump insists he is not a dictator - but claims that many people think the US could use one Independent (August 25, 2025)
“Freedom must be gained step by step, slowly. Freedom is a food which must be carefully administered when people are too hungry for it.”
Lech Wałęsa (born 1943) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Oriana Fallaci (22 & 23 February 1981)
“We suffered a tragedy not one of us could have thought would happen in our country. And we picked ourselves up and sorted ourselves out as all good British people do, and I thought, let us stand together for we are British! They were trying to destroy the fundamental freedom that is the birth-right of every British citizen, freedom, justice and democracy.”
Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to Finchley Conservatives (20 October 1984) on the Brighton bombing
“Those who use this country's great tradition of freedom of speech should not seek to deny that same freedom to others, especially to those who, like Mr Powell, spent their war years in distinguished service in the Forces.”
Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If America is about anything, she is about freedom. We have seen in the burgeoning Department of Homeland Security and at our airports and in the color-coded alerts the beginning of the erosion of that freedom.”
Pat Buchanan (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You always know the mark of a coward. A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of freedom and defends it for others.”
Henry Rollins (born 1961) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Talk is Cheap Volume 1 (1998)
“This hand, to tyrants ever sworn the foe, For Freedom only deals the deadly blow; Then sheathes in calm repose the vengeful blade, For gentle peace in Freedom’s hallowed shade.”
John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) first seen 1842 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Written in an Album (1842)l compare: "Manus haec inimica tyrannis / Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem", Algernon Sidney, From the Life and Memoirs of Algernon Sidney.
“We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians; without the resolution of conflicts in East Timor, the Sudan and other parts of the world.”
Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To bargain freedom for security is the devil's bargain. Having made the bargain, one enjoys neither freedom nor security.”
Gerry Spence (1929–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is all very well and good for Linda Lovelace, the star of the movie, to advocate sexual freedom; but the energy she brings to her role is less awesome than discouraging. If you have to work this hard at sexual freedom, maybe it isn't worth the effort.”
Roger Ebert (1942–2013) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Review of Deep Throat (6 March 1973)
“You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists.”
Abbie Hoffman (1936–1989) first seen 1989 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Tikkun (July-August 1989); also quoted in The Best Liberal Quotes Ever : Why the Left is Right (2004) by William P. Martin, p. 51.
“Choice depends on the freedom to choose and if you are shackled with debt you don’t have the freedom to choose.”
Tony Benn (1925–2014) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Michael Moore in the movie Sicko (2007).
“The attacks of September 11 were intended to break our spirit, instead we have emerged stronger and more unified. We feel renewed devotion to the principles of political, economic and religious freedom, the rule of law and respect for human life. We are more determined than ever to live our lives in freedom”
Rudy Giuliani (born 1944) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dedication for the exhibit "After September 11 : Images from Ground Zero." (31 December 2001)
“Freedom from exploitation is perhaps the easiest freedom to get. All you have to do is to stop participating in any relationship — of any kind — that doesn't suit you.”
Harry Browne (1933–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom is the alone unoriginated birthright of man, and belongs to him by force of his humanity; and is independence on the will and co-action of every other in so far as this consists with every other person’s freedom.”
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) said by 1804 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Immanuel Kant, The Metaphysics of Ethics by Immanuel Kant, trans. J.W. Semple, ed. with Iintroduction by Rev. Henry Calderwood (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1886) (3rd edition). Chapter: GENERAL DIVISION OF JURISPRUDENCE.
“We become obsessed with "truth" when discussing statements, just as we become obsessed with "freedom" when discussing conduct...Like freedom, truth is a bare minimum or an illusory ideal.”
J. L. Austin (1911–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When "freedom" is worshipped as a sublime and mystical state rather than as simply a necessary condition for human fulfillment, the faith in freedom itself ceases to express the democratic spirit and becomes something quite different; it ceases to express the conscience of a conservative and becomes instead the faith of a fanatic.”
J. William Fulbright (1905–1995) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address (September, 1964)
“A pre-emptive war in 'defense' of freedom would surely destroy freedom, because one simply cannot engage in barbarous action without becoming a barbarian, because one cannot defend human values by calculated and unprovoked violence without doing mortal damage to the values one is trying to defend.”
J. William Fulbright (1905–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not proper either to have a blunt sword or to use freedom of speech ineffectually. Neither is the sun to be taken from the world, nor freedom of speech from erudition.”
Pythagoras (583–491 BC) said by 491 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in the translation of Thomas Taylor (1818)
“Lenin sacrificed Marx and instead gave Russia freedom. You want to sacrifice German freedom for Marx. Even the Bolshevik Jew has clearly recognized the compelling necessity of the Russian national state and has early and wisely adjusted himself to it.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Rebuke to German communists. National Socialism or Bolshevism? (Nationalsozialismus oder Bolschewismus?) NS-Briefe (October 25, 1925)
“The will to freedom rises up from the collapsing system. It finds its form in fundamentally new ideas: in Bolshevism and National Socialism. Both emerge with the ultimate belief that they will bring freedom to an entire world by overthrowing it. Bolshevism and National Socialism are embodied in two people who lead a purposeful minority in the will to the future: Lenin and Hitler.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Full freedom of speech and expression prevails in our country, and freedom of assembly and association is guaranteed.”
Václav Havel (1936–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I support freedom of expression. A lot of people I disagree with also support freedom of expression. If that's controversial, then someone will have to explain to me why.”
Jimmy Wales (born 1966) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (8 July 2020)
“For many minutes, for many hours, for a bleak eternity, he lay awake, shivering, reduced to primitive terror, comprehending that he had won freedom, and wondering what he could do with anything so unknown and so embarrassing as freedom. ~ Ch. 9”
Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“ASEAN would pursue the creation of a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality in Southeast Asia. The leaders of ASEAN firmly believe that given their freedom from superpower dominance and interference, neighbouring states could successfully set aside their differences to forge a common purpose.”
Mahathir Mohamad (born 1925) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That the principles for which these three men stood might be still more firmly established destiny raised up Theodore Roosevelt. To political freedom he strove to add economic freedom. By building the Panama Canal he brought into closer relationship the east and the west and realized the vision that inspired Columbus in his search for a new passage to the Orient.”
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) said by 1933 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The great enemy of human freedom is the Government. By taking money out of our pockets and spending it, it destroys our freedom.”
Milton Friedman (1912–2006) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The National Times, Australia, (March 1, 1977)
“The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both.”
Milton Friedman (1912–2006) first seen 1980 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From Created Equal, an episode of the PBS Free to Choose television series (1980, vol. 5 transcript).