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Freedom

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“PEACE: tranquility, freedom from strife, freedom from warring conditions, freedom from conditions that annoy the mind. We have not had peace for some 281,614 days since Columbus first came here. Worse, our homeland has not experienced peace since this country's inception.”
Lee Maracle (1950–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are still fighting for the freedom to live, for the freedom to work. In short, we still don’t have economic freedom.”
Lyndall Shope-Mafole wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Compassion gives us the freedom to redefine ourselves as well as the all-important freedom to fail, which contains within it the freedom to take the risks that allow us to be truly creative.”
Susan David (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Such abstract qualities as freedom are difficult or impossible to define. Freedom's loss may be easier to recognise, but it does not necessarily lead to chains. Increasingly nowadays, freedom is a managed commodity, but the consequences are subtle and varied.”
Donald Braben (1935–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The freedom that must be loved is [...] the freedom of others. Only on this condition is the love of freedom not a selfish aspiration, but a moral idea, indeed the sole and exclusive content of moral experience.”
Guido Calogero (1904–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: La scuola dell'uomo, Paolo Bagnoli (editor), Diabasis, 2003.
“The best way to celebrate your freedom is to LIVE it! Be you. Be free. Don't just make freedom something you have, make it something you do ... something you ARE!”
Steve Maraboli (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Off goes the head of the king, and tyranny gives way to freedom. The change seems abysmal. Then, bit by bit, the face of freedom hardens, and by and by it is the old face of tyranny. Then another cycle, and another. But under the play of all these opposites there is something fundamental and permanent — the basic delusion that men may be governed and yet be free.”
H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Preface to the first edition of The American Credo : A Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind (1920)
“I believe that the advance of science depends upon the free competition of thought, and thus upon freedom, and that it must come to an end if freedom is destroyed (though it may well continue for some time in some fields, especially in technology).”
Karl Popper (1902–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here at home, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other that this is a land of the free except for the Negroes; that we have no second-class citizens except Negroes; that we have no class or caste system, no ghettoes, no master race except with respect to Negroes?”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no such thing as slow freedom. Freedom is like a birth. Till we are fully free we are slaves.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (15 December 1921)
“This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It's all about money, not freedom, y'all, okay? Nothing to do with fuckin' freedom. If you think you're free, try going somewhere without fucking money, okay?”
Bill Hicks (1961–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: American: The Bill Hicks Story (2009)
“Freedom and community are important. Gratis software is not worth such an effort, because price is usually not an ethical issue. Paying isn’t wrong, and being paid isn’t wrong. Trampling other people’s freedom and community is wrong, so the free software movement aims to put an end to it, at least in the area of software.”
Richard Stallman (born 1953) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Richard M. Stallman" in Free Software Magazine (January 23, 2008)
“With respect to the question of relationships, my general view is that freedom means freedom for everyone. People...ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.”
Dick Cheney (1941–2025) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks on same same-sex marriage Washington Post (25 August 2004)
“No, chum, there’s a lot of guff talked about freedom. No man is free. There is no such thing as freedom. There are only various privileges.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In fact, when a nation has become free, it is extremely difficult to persuade them that their freedom is only to be preserved by perpetual and minute jealousy. They do not observe that there is a constant, perhaps an unconscious, effort on the part of their governors to diminish, and so ultimately to destroy, that freedom.”
Sydney Smith (1771–1845) first seen 1809 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Characters of Mr. Fox" (review of Characters of the late Charles James Fox, edited by Philopatris Varvicensis, 2 vols), in The Edinburgh Review (July 1809)
“Thus, we see from Lenin and his industrial reform that no salvation can come to the German people from this side, because communism, Marxism, as an ally of the Jewish stock market swindlers, never wants real freedom. It needs compliant slaves for its system of exploitation, but no free people for its plans for world domination. Real freedom means its end.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To realize freedom the mind has to learn to look at life, which is a vast movement, without the bondage of time, for freedom lies beyond the field of consciousness — care for watching, but don't stop and interpret "I am free," then you're living in a memory of something that has gone before.”
Bruce Lee (1940–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It became the fashion a few years ago to say that civil liberties meant nothing to the average man; that his freedom was just freedom to starve. But it also happens that the 'free' countries are those which the underprivileged are best fed.”
Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“America works for peace. We work for freedom. We work for a world in which men can have peace and can also have freedom and can worship their God, not a godless state. So in this work I am sure that all Americans and all free men everywhere whatever their faith, welcome and are grateful for the leadership being offered so forcefully by His Holiness Pope Paul.”
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't believe in total freedom for the artist. Left on his own, free to do anything he likes, the artist ends up doing nothing at all. If there's one thing that's dangerous for an artist, it's precisely this question of total freedom, waiting for inspiration and the rest of it.”
Federico Fellini (1920–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By this action, the Government has proved that so long as it exists, none of us are truly free. Government and freedom are mutually exclusive. So if we value freedom, there's only one conclusion. It's time to get rid of this leftover relic we call Government.”
Max Barry (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You cannot take away freedom to protect it, you cannot destroy the free market to save it, and you cannot uphold freedom of speech by silencing those with whom you disagree. To take rights away to defend them or to spend your way out of debt defies common sense.”
Glenn Beck (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(…) Freedom to do what one likes is really bondage, while being free to do what one must, what is right, is real freedom.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is true Freedom but to break Fetters for our own dear sake, And, with leathern hearts, forget That we owe mankind a debt? No! true freedom is to share All the chains our brothers wear, And, with heart and hand, to be Earnest to make others free!”
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) said by 1891 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom?” The word tastes bitter. “What’s freedom ever done for me? Seems to me I’ve been free almost all my life, but what has it gotten me? Really?” She’s silent for only a moment. “Ask not what it’s gotten you, kid. Ask what it’s saved you from.”
Charles Stross (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is our Christian task to make ourselves increasingly more free. As one of the beautiful hymns has it: “It is a long road to freedom”. There is a great danger that we will give in to external force or internal compulsion, thus jeopardizing our freedom.”
Kurien Kunnumpuram (1931–2018) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kunnumpuram, Kurien, 2011 “Theological Exploration,” Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies 14/2 (July-Dec 2011)
“I believe in freedom Freedom's apparently all I need But who's ever been free in this world? Who has never had to bleed in this world?”
Rufus Wainwright (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom" was the watchword. "Free enterprise," they meant, the men whose monopolies controlled the United States of America, the only interested parties in the business of being number one. It was in the name of freedom that surviving Nazis were employed by the U.S. government, and Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were burned at the stake of the state.”
Elaine Brown (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have not answered the free will-determinism question, but we have decided to come down on the side of personal freedom, to assert it whether or not it exists. Just as we make our own meaning, we make our own freedom. If this is a cosmic joke, then let us be the ones laughing.”
Eric Maisel (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We want freedom for our country, but not at the expense or exploitation of others, not us to degrade other countries…I want the freedom of my country so that other countries may learn something from my free country so that the resources of my country might be utilized for the benefit of mankind.”
Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The eye covers distances in a second. It lusts for freedom. Looking out, I often wanted to be free - not of home, but of the city. The eye (if it's gazing upon something it's unhappy with, as I was) might see nothing. Looking up is different. I have the freedom I then wanted.”
Amit Chaudhuri (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The young women of today, free to study, to speak, to write, to choose their occupation, should remember that every inch of this freedom was bought for them at a great price. It is for them to show their gratitude by helping onward the reforms of their own times, by spreading the light of freedom and of truth still wider. The debt that each generation owes to the past it must pay to the future.”
Abigail Scott Duniway (1834–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Imagine your son becomes your guardian, no matter my capabilities as a woman, I am still enslaved to somebody else. Freedom for me is to live with dignity, and if my dignity and freedom is controlled by a man, I will never be free.”
Manal al-Sharif (born 1979) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About male guardianship on women in Saudi Arabia. As quoted in Saudi women 'still enslaved', says activist as driving ban ends (22 June 2018) by Heba Kanso, .
“In a community of free people the freedom of economic activity is an inseparable part of the whole, and only this freedom will ensure a life worth living.”
Ludwig Erhard (1897–1977) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Message to the international industrial development conference in San Francisco, quoted in The Times (16 October 1957), p. 7
“For me, poetry has been an exercise in freedom. Freedom is like a muscle-the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. Poetry can give you a sense of choice. It's free on every level. Language and memory have no price tags on them. You have limitless choices-in form, language, subject matter-that spill over into life.”
Lorna Dee Cervantes (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think it’s one of the major responsibilities of the poet. As poets we tend to not like the word “responsibility”. We prefer “freedom”, we want to be as free as we can, but freedom and responsibility can go together. We’re responsible because we’re writers, and we’ve been at this all our lives…”
Juan Felipe Herrera (born 1948) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the poet having both responsibility and freedom in “Interview with Juan Felipe Herrera” (Gulf Stream, 2015)
“Tradition is a whole, because Faith is a whole. And in the current situation more than ever, the need for an absolutely free profession of Faith is evident. The true freedom of the children of God is first and foremost the freedom to profess their Faith.”
Davide Pagliarani (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Certainly, liberation is a basic necessity: people need to be free from harm, hunger, and hatred. But liberation falls far short of freedom. If we are ever to fulfill both our needs and desires, if we are ever to take control of our lives, each and every one of us needs the "freedom to" self-develop—individually, socially, and politically.”
Cindy Milstein (born 2000) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Religious freedom is not free. It comes at a cost. You Americans have been given the gift of religious freedom. Protect it, and never take it for granted.”
Vlado Košić (born 1959) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Never Take Religious Freedom for Granted (14 January 2022) CNS News
“Feminism is so powerful: because it is not an event that is just emerging now. It is embedded in the oldest memories of human consciousness about freedom. We are born with this instinct to be free and then begin the struggle to resist the attempts to appropriate our freedom, which we experience through the marking of our bodies and the commodification of our bodies.”
Patricia McFadden (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the Bible, man is only free to submit or be damned. His one freedom is the renunciation of that freedom. He finds his “salvation” by freely accepting his subjugation. The Christian ideal, says Saint Paul, is to be freely “subservient to God” (Romans 6:22).”
Alain de Benoist (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Writing is absolutely the work of freedom. Not just freedom dreaming but being free.”
Imani Perry (born 1972) first seen 2026 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Writing as the Work of Freedom, February 4 2026
“In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free,--honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve.”
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) said by 1865 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“We have to be on our guard when the whig historian tells us... that the Reformation is justified because it ultimately led to liberty... for it is possible to argue against the whig historian that the ultimate issue which he applauds only came in the long run from the fact that, in its immediate results, The Reformation was disastrous to liberty.”
Herbert Butterfield (1900–1979) said by 1979 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Political liberty-under any political status-is in itself only one of the many expressions of human liberty.”
Luis Muñoz Marín (1898–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be sure that Christ is not behind you, but before, calling and drawing you on. This is the liberty, the beautiful liberty of Christ. Claim your glorious privilege in the name of a disciple; be no more a servant, when Christ will own you as a friend.”
Horace Bushnell (1802–1876) said by 1876 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," instead of "life, liberty and property." With that vagueness, Jefferson undermined the foundation of civilization: private property right.”
Ilana Mercer wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The last end that can happen to any man, never comes too soon, if he falls in support of the law and liberty of his country: for liberty is synonymous to law and government.”
William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (1704–1793) first seen 1769 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Rex v. Wilkes (1769), 4 Burr. Part IV., p. 2563.
“Just and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty," in matters spiritual and temporal, is a thing that all men are clearly entitled to by the eternal and immutable laws of God and nature, as well as by the law of nations and all well-grounded municipal laws, which must have their foundation in the former.”
Samuel Adams (1722–1803) said by 1803 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source