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Freedom

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“How false is the conception, how frantic the pursuit, of that treacherous phantom which men call Liberty.”
John Ruskin (1819–1900) said by 1900 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I affirm, therefore, that our present position is one of apostasy; and to give the ballot to the negro will be no innovation, but a return to the old paths, a restoration of that spirit of liberty to which the sufferings and sacrifices of the Revolution gave birth.”
James A. Garfield (1831–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But liberty is no negation. It is a substantive, tangible reality. It is the realization of those imperishable truths of the Declaration 'that all men are created equal', that the sanction of all just government is 'the consent of the governed'. Can these truths be realized until each man has a right be to heard on all matters relating to himself?”
James A. Garfield (1831–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Twenty-five years ago the Republican Party was married to liberty, and this is our silver wedding, fellow-citizens.”
James A. Garfield (1831–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fellow-Citizens: We stand to-day upon an eminence which overlooks a hundred years of national life — a century crowded with perils, but crowned with the triumphs of liberty and law. Before continuing the onward march let us pause on this height for a moment to strengthen our faith and renew our hope by a glance at the pathway along which our people have traveled.”
James A. Garfield (1831–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Enterprises of the highest importance to our moral and material well-being unite us and offer ample employment of our best powers. Let all our people, leaving behind them the battlefields of dead issues, move forward and in their strength of liberty and the restored Union win the grander victories of peace.”
James A. Garfield (1831–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our relation to Europe, is pretty much the same, as it was in the commencement of the French Revolution. Can we, in any form, take a bolder attitude in regard to it, in favor of liberty, than we then did? Can we afford greater aid to that cause, by assuming any such attitude, than we do now, by the form of our example?”
James Monroe (1758–1831) first seen 1822 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Thomas Jefferson (1822)
“Patronage is the sword and cannon by which war may be made on the liberty of the human race.”
John Tyler (1790–1862) first seen 1834 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Congress (24 February 1834) against the policies of Andrew Jackson.
“It is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. The honour of the States, as well as justice and humanity, in my opinion, loudly call upon them to emancipate these unhappy people. To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an inconsistency not to be excused.”
John Jay (1745–1829) said by 1829 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Liberty must be allowed to work out its natural results; and these will, ere long, astonish the world.”
James Buchanan (1791–1868) said by 1868 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Presidential Leadership : Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House (2004) edited by James Taranto and Leonard Leo.
“Colored men of Tennessee, humble and unworthy as I am, if no better shall be found I will indeed be your Moses and lead you through the Red Sea of war and bondage to a fairer future of liberty and peace. I speak now as one who feels the world his country and all who love equal rights his friends.”
Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) first seen 1865 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "The Good Fight" (1865), by George William Curtis.
“It will pay Government to give those people who are suffering innocence, justice and liberty. if not I will be compelled to show some colonial stratagem which will open the eyes of not only the Victoria Police and inhabitants but also the whole British army and no doubt they will acknowledge their hounds were barking at the wrong stump.”
Ned Kelly (1854–1880) said by 1880 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]he merits of the great settlement associated with the names of Wellington and Castlereagh gave Britain security which she used for a hundred years of progress in liberty and high civilisation; while the defects of the same settlement, for which also they were in part though in smaller degree responsible, set a date to that happiness in the end.”
G. M. Trevelyan (1876–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Security and liberty were obtained under the Hanoverian Constitution, because, under Walpole, the Whigs became, what they had not always been, the "moderate men.”
G. M. Trevelyan (1876–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The specific work of the early Eighteenth Century in England, on the line down which it was launched by the events of Anne's reign, was the establishment of the rule of law, and that law a law of liberty. On that solid foundation the reforms of succeeding epochs have been based.”
G. M. Trevelyan (1876–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They who enter the narrow way of life for Thy Name’s sake, and have put away all worldly cares, shall attain great liberty of spirit.”
Thomas à Kempis (1379–1471) said by 1471 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.”
Eugene McCarthy (1916–2005) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Time magazine (12 February 1979), p. 67
“I met a girl, snowball in hell she was hard and as cracked as the liberty bell.”
Elliott Smith (1969–2003) said by 2003 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“At the age of nineteen, on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army by means of which I restored liberty to the republic, which had been oppressed by the tyranny of a faction. For which service the senate, with complimentary resolutions, enrolled me in its order...”
Augustus (63 BC–14) said by 14 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those principles which brought about the glorious revolution, which seated his majesty's illustrious family upon the throne, and which have preserved the liberty of this constitution, have ever been the inviolable rule of my political conduct.”
Charles James Fox (1749–1806) first seen 1784 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the electors of Westminster (26 April 1784), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable Charles James Fox, in the House of Commons. Vol. II (1815), pp. 438-439
“Where could be found finer sentiments of liberty, than in the works of Demosthenes and Cicero? Where should we meet with bolder assertions of the rights of mankind, and the dignity of human nature, than in the historians Tacitus and Thucydides?”
Charles James Fox (1749–1806) first seen 1791 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (19 April 1791), quoted in The Speeches of the Right Honourable Charles James Fox, in the House of Commons. Vol. IV (1815), p. 192
“When Love with unconfinèd wings Hovers within my Gates; And my divine Althea brings To whisper at the Grates; When I lye tangled in her haire And fettered to her eye; The Gods that wanton in the Aire, Know no such Liberty.”
Richard Lovelace (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If Jeezy's payin' LeBron, I'm payin' Dwyane Wade Three dice Cee-lo, three Card Molly Labor Day Parade, rest in peace Bob Marley Statue of Liberty, long live the World Trade Long live the King yo, I'm from the Empire State that's”
Jay-Z (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And I thought that were we now to obtain political liberty, of which we talk so much, while engaged in biting one another, we should not know what to do with it, we should waste it in accusing one another in the newspapers of being spies and money-grubbers, we should frighten society with the assurance that we have neither men, nor science, nor literature, nothing! Nothing!”
Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) said by 1904 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When the People contend for their Liberty, they seldom get any thing by their Victory but new Masters.”
George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax (1633–1695) said by 1695 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When the Israelis pick up guns, or the Poles, or the Irish, or any white man in the world says “give me liberty, or give me death,” the entire white world applauds. When a black man says exactly the same thing, word for word, he is judged a criminal and treated like one and everything possible is done to make an example of this bad nigger so there won't be any more like him.”
James Baldwin (1924–1987) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: on The Dick Cavett Show (1968), as reproduced in I Am Not Your Negro: A Companion Edition to the Documentary Film (2017)
“I have started work on a modern subject, a scene on the barricades.. .I may not have fought for my country but at least I shall have painted for her.. [quote is referring to his famous painting 'Liberty Leading the People', 1830]”
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) first seen 1813 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in an unpublished letter to Delacroix' brother, 18 October 1830, but mentioned by M. Sérullaz; as quoted in Eugene Delacroix – selected letters 1813 – 1863, ed. and translation Jean Stewart, art Works MFA publicat…
“To what higher station, to what greater glory can any mortal aspire, than to be, during the whole course of his life, the support of good, the controul of bad government, and the guardian of public liberty?”
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678–1751) said by 1751 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whoe'er amidst the sons Of reason, valour, liberty, and virtue Displays distinguish'd merit, is a noble Of Nature's own creating.”
James Thomson (poet, born 1700) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Coriolanus, Act iii, scene 3; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Also quoted by: James Thomson
“...the errors of Rome...[are] rank idolatry—a subversion of all civil as well as religious liberty, and the utter disgrace of reason and of human nature.”
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708–1778) first seen 1762 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to the Bishop of Gloucester William Warburton (October 1762), quoted in W. S. Taylor and J. H. Pringle (eds.), Correspondence of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham: Vol. II (1838), p. 188
“Our All is at Stake, and the little Conveniences and Comforts of Life, when set in Competition with our Liberty, ought to be rejected not with Reluctance but with Pleasure.”
George Mason (1725–1792) first seen 1769 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to George Washington (5 April 1769)
“The end of the government being the good of mankind points out its great duties: it is above all things to provide for the security, the quiet, the happy enjoyment of life, liberty, and property.”
James Otis Jr. (1725–1783) said by 1783 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If life, liberty, and property could be enjoyed in as great perfection in solitude as in society, there would be no need of government.”
James Otis Jr. (1725–1783) said by 1783 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The liberty of the press is the palladium of all the civil, political, and religious rights of an Englishman.”
Junius (1800–1900) first seen 1772 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dedication to the English Nation (added the collection of letters published in 1772)
“The government of England is a government of law. We betray ourselves, we contradict the spirit of our laws, and we shake the whole system of English jurisprudence, whenever we entrust a discretionary power over the life, liberty, or fortune of the subject to any man, or set of men, whatsoever, upon a presumption that it will not be abused.”
Junius (1800–1900) first seen 1771 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No. 46 (25 May 1771)
“Give thought to life and liberty.”
Cyrano de Bergerac (1619–1655) said by 1655 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Liberty, taking the word in its concrete sense, consists in the ability to choose.”
Simone Weil (1909–1943) said by 1943 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The tribute most high to a head that is royal, Is love from a heart that loves liberty too.”
Thomas Moore (1779–1852) said by 1852 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ay, down to the dust with them, slaves as they are! From this hour let the blood in their dastardly veins, That shrunk at the first touch of Liberty's war, Be wasted for tyrants, or stagnate in chains.”
Thomas Moore (1779–1852) first seen 1821 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Entry of the Austrians into Naples (1821).
“It is harder to preserve than to obtain liberty.”
John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) first seen 1848 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the Senate (January 1848)
“Thomas Jefferson said, "The tree of liberty must be fertilized from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Yeah, and I heard that and thought, "I'm out!”
Christopher Titus (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Enforced uniformity confounds civil and religious liberty and denies the principles of Christianity and civility. No man shall be required to worship or maintain a worship against his will.”
Roger Williams (theologian) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Great Quotations on Religious Freedom (1991) edited by Albert J. Menendez and Edd Doerr
“Although the loose will be more loose (yet) possibly being at more liberty they may be put upon consideration and choice of ways of life and peace, yet, however, it is infinitely better that the profane and loose be unmasked than to be muffled up under the veil and hood of traditional hypocrisy, which turns and dulls the very edge of all conscience either toward God or man.”
Roger Williams (theologian) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One of the most melancholy consequences of this habit of deferring to other nations, and to other systems, is the fact that it causes us to undervalue the high blessings we so peculiarly enjoy; to render us ungrateful towards God, and to make us unjust to our fellow men, by throwing obstacles in their progress towards liberty.”
James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) first seen 1834 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Letter to His Countrymen (1834)
“Even our earliest espousers of human rights limit them to life, liberty, and the pursuit of satisfactions. They do not guarantee posterity or immortality.”
Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whether in chains or in laurels, Liberty knows nothing but victories.”
Wendell Phillips (1811–1884) first seen 1859 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lecture at Brooklyn (November 1, 1859)
“Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty.”
Henry Martyn Robert (1837–1923) first seen 1915 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Robert's Rules of Order Revised, 1915, preface
“Puritanism, believing itself quick with the seed of religious liberty, laid, without knowing it, the egg of democracy.”
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) said by 1891 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Governments are not at liberty to act solely from motives of generous sympathy for the sufferings of an oppressed people, they are bound by the severer rules of general principles, to respect rights which are inherent in other nations.”
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) first seen 1831 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Viscount Granville on the Portuguese Civil War (10 August 1831), quoted in Jasper Ridley, Lord Palmerston (1970), p. 166
“I half wrote a discourse on modern democracy, how the rule of numbers is to be reconciled with the rule of sage judgment, and the passion for liberty and equality is to be reconciled with sovereign regard for law, authority, and order; and how our hopes for the future are to be linked to wise reverence for tradition and the past.”
John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (1838–1923) first seen 1887 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 'Aphorisms', an address delivered before the Edinburgh Philosophical Institutions (11 November 1887), quoted in John Morley, Studies in Literature (1901), p. 54