Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,808 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Freedom
LoveFriendshipHappinessHopeFearCourageDeathLifeTimeWarPeaceFreedomTruthWisdomKnowledgeScienceArtMusicNatureMoneyWorkPowerGodBeautyLaughterFamilySuccess and failureChangeDreamsBooks and reading
“Nothing is more precious than Independence and Liberty.”
Ho Chí Minh (1890–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Political slogan, quoted in Ho Chi Minh and His Vietnam : A Personal Memoir (1972) by Jean Sainteny, p. 172
“The liberty of every American citizen freely to come and to go must frequently, in the face of sudden danger, be temporarily limited or suspended. The civil authorities must often resort to the expedient of excluding citizens temporarily from a locality.”
Hugo Black (1886–1971) first seen 1944 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Writing for the court, Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944).
“Again, it is a new doctrine of constitutional law that one indicted for disobedience to an unconstitutional statute may not defend on the ground of the invalidity of the statute, but must obey it though he knows it is no law, and, after he has suffered the disgrace of conviction and lost his liberty by sentence, then, and not before, seek, from within prison walls, to test the validity of the law.”
Hugo Black (1886–1971) first seen 1944 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Writing for the court, Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944).
“There is nothing in the world that renders a man more unlike to a saint, and more like to Satan - than to argue from God's mercy to sinful liberty; from divine goodness to licentiousness.”
Thomas Brooks (Puritan) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Local self-government…is the life-blood of liberty.”
John Lothrop Motley (1814–1877) first seen 1856 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Rise of the Dutch Republic (1856; New York: Harper, 1861) vol. 3, part 6, ch. 1, p. 416.
“You can never have civil liberty so long as strangers and Englishmen make your laws and so long as the occupiers of the soil own not an inch of it.”
Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–1891) first seen 1879 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Navan (12 October 1879), quoted in F. S. L. Lyons, Charles Stewart Parnell [1977] (1991), p. 96
“I believe in the supreme worth of the individual and in his right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All Politeness is owing to Liberty. We polish one another, and rub off our Corners and rough Sides by a sort of amicable Collision. To restrain this, is inevitably to bring a Rust upon Mens Understandings.”
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671–1713) said by 1713 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]his Fifth Edition is required to meet the demand of a somewhat wider class of students than those for whom the Lectures were originally intended. ...Mr. Stirling has been at liberty to prepare the modifications and additions ...”
George Biddell Airy (1801–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For this reason, whoever desires liberty, should understand these vital facts, viz.:”
Lysander Spooner (1808–1887) said by 1887 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“#That the only security men can have for their political liberty, consists in their keeping their money in their own pockets, until they have assurances, perfectly satisfactory to themselves, that it will be used as they wish it to be used, for their benefit, and not for their injury.”
Lysander Spooner (1808–1887) said by 1887 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The science of mine and thine—the science of justice—is the science of all human rights; of all a man’s rights of person and property; of all his rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Lysander Spooner (1808–1887) said by 1887 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The work of the Spirit is to impart life, to implant hope, to give liberty, to testify of Christ, to guide us into all truth, to teach us all things, to comfort the believer, and to convict the world of sin.”
Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Keep on thinking. Keep your thinking close to the ground, where it belongs. Don’t ever trade your liberty for another man’s offer to do your thinking and make your mistakes for you.”
Poul Anderson (1926–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Rights give rise to legal claims. Ultimately, the more rights animals are granted, the greater the legal lien exercised on their behalf against the liberty and property of people.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Defense of Vick, Man is the Only Top Dog," Orange County Register, September 2, 2007.
“The rights to life, liberty and property were not meant to be subject to the vagaries of majority rule.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Life, Liberty, and Property,” WorldNetDaily.com and Taki’s Magazine, May 15, 2009.
“From the fact that most Americans want others to fund or subsidize their healthcare, it does not follow that they have such a right. A need is not a right. A man's life, liberty and the products of his labor were not intended to be up for grabs by grubby, greedy majorities.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Defunct Foundations of the Republic,” WorldNetDaily.com, January 1, 2010.
“Liberty is not an aggregate social project. Every individual has rights. And rights give rise to obligations between all men, including those who are in power. That men band in a collective called 'government' doesn't give them license to violate individual rights.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Defunct Foundations of the Republic,” WorldNetDaily.com, January 1, 2010.
“Most people would define treason as a betrayal of one's country or sovereign. In my book, the book of natural law, treason is properly defined as a betrayal of one's countrymen—and, in particular, the betrayal of the individual's right to life, liberty and property. (To your question, yes, this renders almost all politicians traitors by definition.)”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Peerless Malevolence of Redcoat Piers Morgan,” WorldNetDaily.com, January 18, 2013.
“The paleolibertarian grasps that liberty has a civilizational dimension, stripped of which the libertarian non-aggression axiom, by which we all must live, cannot endure.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cathy Reisenwitz Redux: Steigerwald, Oy Vey Gevalt!" Libertarian Alliance, January 14, 2015
“South Africa’s Constitution is descriptive, not prescriptive—full of pitch-perfect verbal obesities that provide little by way of recourse for those whose natural, individual rights are violated. As a protector of individual rights to life, liberty and property, it’s worse than useless—a wordy and worthless document.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: South Africa Land Theft: Constitution All But Allows It,” Townhall.com, March 11, 2018.
“There is no "slippery slope" toward loss of liberty, only a long staircase where each step down must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders.”
Alan K. Simpson (1931–2025) first seen 1982 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The New York Times (26 September 1982).
“It is not on the ruins of liberty that we may in the future build justice.”
Afrikan Spir (1837–1890) said by 1890 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The man who shot Liberty Valance, He was the bravest of them all.”
Hal David (1921–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are nothing on earth if we are not in the first place the slaves of a cause, the cause of the peoples, the cause of justice and liberty.”
Frantz Fanon (1925–1961) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Roger Tayeb, December 1961, as cited in Peter Geismar, Fanon (1971), p. 185.
“True technique will know how to maintain the illusion of liberty, choice, and individuality; but these will have been carefully calculated so that they will be integrated into the mathematical reality merely as appearances!”
Jacques Ellul (1912–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Protest is liberty's ally.”
Martin Firrell (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Liberty dies where there is agreement without thought or argument.”
Martin Firrell (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Security is no replacement for liberty.”
Martin Firrell (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Throughout history, in the name of “liberty,” owning classes have opposed political leaders who have sought a more equitable distribution and use of wealth. And in the name of “stability” and “public safety,” they have repeatedly surrendered some of their own power to autocratic leaders dedicated to preserving the privileged socioeconomic order.”
Michael Parenti (1933–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They don’t believe in liberty. They don’t believe in China before the Communists. There is only one simple, clear task: to protect their control, to maintain their governing. Which is such a pity.”
Ai Weiwei (born 1957) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Wines, Michael. “China’s Impolitic Artist, Still Waiting to Be Silenced.” New York Times, November 28, 2009.
“Some things are worth fighting for. I encourage my readers to avoid trouble, most importantly via relocation to safe areas where trouble is unlikely to visit. But there may come an unavoidable day when you have to make a stand to defend your own family or your neighbors. Furthermore, if you value your liberty, then be prepared to fight for it, both for yourself and for the sake of your progeny.”
James Wesley Rawles (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Less glory is more liberty. When the drum is silent, reason sometimes speaks.”
Albert Pike (1809–1891) said by 1891 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For the past 11 years, I’ve taught hundreds of students, primarily at Harvard Law School. I teach that the Constitution’s separation of powers protects individual liberty, and I remain grateful to the dean who hired me, Justice Elena Kagan.”
Elena Kagan (born 1960) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Brett Kavanaugh, U.S. Supreme Court Nomination Acceptance Speech, 9 July 2018
“Poor old Mum and Dad: publicly accused by their son, the poet, and never given a chance to reply to his charges. They shall have one now, if I may take the liberty of speaking for them. How sharper than a serpent's tooth To hear your child make such a fuss. It isn't fair—it's not the truth— He's fucked up, yes, but not by us.”
Judith Rich Harris (1938–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every time the Secretary of Defense tries to get a hand on his many intelligence programs, we hear warnings about the dire consequences to liberty. When you look behind those warnings, what you really see is the CIA trying to preserve its perks.”
Mark Riebling (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I cannot hear thy voice with others' ears, Who make of thy lost liberty a gain; And in thy tale of blighted hopes and fears Feel not that every note is born with pain.”
Jones Very (1813–1880) said by 1880 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fascism glorifies both militarism and war. It is as surely a menace to the peace as to the liberty of mankind.”
Norman Thomas (1884–1968) first seen 1865 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Pacifist's Dilemma", The Nation magazine, January 16, 1937. Quoted in Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation 1865-1990: Selections from the Independent Magazine of Politics and Culture. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press,19…
“By every test of civil liberty Russian life is at least as much regimented as in the Fascist countries. The press, schools, and radio are if anything more absolutely controlled. ... To strike is as dangerous in Russia as in Germany. . . .”
Norman Thomas (1884–1968) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Norman Thomas: Respectable Rebel, Murray B. Seidler, Syracuse University Press, 1961, p. 187
“The people whom I represent, Mr. President, are the descendants of those who brought with them to this country, as the most precious of their possessions, "an ardent love of liberty;" and while that shall be preserved, they will always be found manfully struggling against the consolidation of the government—.”
Robert Hayne (1791–1839) first seen 1830 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hayne's Speech on Mr. Foot's Resolution, January 21, 1830, page 16.
“The militarization of our law enforcement is due to an unprecedented expansion of government power in this realm. … Americans must never sacrifice their liberty for an illusive and dangerous, or false, security.”
“Mr. President, there comes to a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate and liberty and privacy to suffer. That time is now. And I will not let the PATRIOT Act, the most un-patriotic of acts, go unchallenged.”
“It's been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of liberty.”
Rand Paul (born 1963) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 3 February 2016
“History teaches us that there have been but few infringements of personal liberty by the state which have not been justified, as they are here, in the name of righteousness and the public good, and few which have not been directed, as they are now, at politically helpless minorities.”
Harlan F. Stone (1872–1946) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586 (1940).
“May I please remind you that it does not say "RSVP" on the Statue of Liberty.”
“What gave transcendent importance to the aggressiveness of power was the fact that its natural prey, its necessary victim, was liberty, or law, or right.”
Bernard Bailyn (1922–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The wielders of power did not speak for it, nor did they naturally serve it. Their interest was to use and develop power, no less natural and necessary than liberty but more dangerous.”
Bernard Bailyn (1922–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fact that the ministerial conspiracy against liberty had risen from corruption was of the utmost importance to the colonists.”
Bernard Bailyn (1922–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If any Jew has purchased and circumcised a Christian slave or one of any other sect than his own, he shall not keep the circumcised slave in servitude, but the man who has suffered this outrage shall be granted the rights of liberty.”
Constantine the Great (272–337) said by 337 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source