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Freedom

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“The true touchstone of civil liberty is not that all men are equal but that every man has the right to be the equal of every other man – if he can.”
Benjamin Butler (1818–1893) said by 1893 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Republican Party is for positive intervention. They propose, as our fathers did, to erect a wall of intervention, of prohibition, and station an angel of liberty at the gates in that wall, who shall keep watch and ward there day and night, and guard the territories against the entrance of slavery, as the cherubim of God kept sin out of Eden.”
Owen Lovejoy (1811–1864) first seen 1838 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in His Brother's Blood: Speeches and Writings, 1838–64 (2004), edited by William Frederick Moore and Jane Ann Moore, p. 233
“So far as my right to life and liberty is concerned, I did not get it from Congress or Parliament. I did not get it from the Democratic Party. I did not get it from any evil spirits whose names commence with the same initials as the Democrats.”
Owen Lovejoy (1811–1864) first seen 1838 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in His Brother's Blood: Speeches and Writings, 1838–64 (2004), edited by William Frederick Moore and Jane Ann Moore, p. 234
“The advanced state of civilized society does not recognize the right of one man to own another man against his will. The inalienable right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, is conceded to all. The right of every man to himself, to enjoy the fruits of his own ingenuity and industry, are among the natural rights of every person made in the image of God.”
Elbridge G. Spaulding (1809–1897) said by 1897 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm not for pretending that bad stuff doesn't exist, and a passion for justice and truth is a libertarian trait. But the idea of liberty should also reveal new forms of beauty in the world, astonishing evidence of order without dictate, lovely examples of innovation without planning, and other magical things. Surely these deserve some attention too.”
Jeffrey Tucker (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“America will not die. As the time demands them, great men will appear, and by their combined efforts render liberty and happiness more secure. The people will be ready and answer in every emergency that may arise.”
Charles E. Nash (1844–1913) first seen 1876 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (7 June 1876): p. 3,669
“Maintaining decency, we could go anywhere and do all of our works -- Islam gives that liberty and scope to women ...women have to create their own fate and work out their own future.”
Sheikh Hasina (born 1947) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hasina said on a function at Osmani Memorial Auditorium. The Ministry of Children and Women Affairs organised the function on the occasion of , (9 December 2015).
“The liberty of the press ought to be left where the Constitution has placed it, without any power in Congress to abridge it; that if they abridge it, they will destroy it; and that whenever that falls, all our liberties must fall with it.”
George Nicholas (1754–1799) first seen 1798 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to a friend in Virginia (1798); cited in The Great Quotations, compiled by George Seldes (1960)
“Had President Kennedy not pledged the nation to bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, and oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty?”
William Westmoreland (1914–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“John Ashcroft is not a friend of liberty and justice. George Bush, the appointed president, is not someone who ---prior to a month ago--- ever demonstrated any insight or acuity about the world around him. Have these men been born again, again?”
Jeffrey Montgomery (1953–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our call to people of goodwill and justice, and especially to all gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people, and those who support and love us —our allies in the fight for liberty and justice for all— is to take action.”
Jeffrey Montgomery (1953–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Perhaps there is too much talk of justice, equality and liberty in political philosophy, and not enough about suffering. It is suffering that matters morally …”
Richard D. Ryder (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The concept of property itself had come up out of the common law and carried with it the idea of a natural, or common-law rights of liberty to acquire, use and dispose of physical things.”
John R. Commons (1862–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Legally, the term liberty means absence of duty, or rather the limit of duty.”
John R. Commons (1862–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ‘liberty’ of one is his permission to act as he pleases, supported against interference by the power of the concern or government”
John R. Commons (1862–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Liberty, as such, is only the negative of duty, the absence of restraint or compulsion.”
John R. Commons (1862–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Vyshinsky: Were you badly treated? Muralov: I was deprived of my liberty. Vyshinsky: But perhaps rough methods were used against you? Muralov: No. No such rough methods were used. I must say that in Novosibirsk and here I was treated politely and no cause for resentment was given. I was treated very decently and politely.”
Nikolay Muralov (1877–1937) said by 1937 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today, the most important humanist sect is liberal humanism, which believes that 'humanity' is a quality of individual humans, and that the liberty of individuals is therefore sacrosanct.”
Yuval Noah Harari (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]he modern world fails to square liberty with equality.”
Yuval Noah Harari (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the beginning, the liberal story cared mainly about the liberties and privileges of middle-class European men, and seemed blind to the plight of working-class people, women, minorities and non-Westerners. When in 1918 victorious Britain and France talked excitedly about liberty, they were not thinking about the subjects of their worldwide empires.”
Yuval Noah Harari (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The institution of taxation is not a civilized but a barbaric method to fund anything... it amounts to... a gross violation of human liberty.”
Tibor R. Machan (1939–2016) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: What's Wrong with Taxation?” Mises Daily, Nov. 22, 2002
“This right to life, this right to liberty, and this right to pursue one’s happiness is unabashedly individualistic, without in the slightest denying at the same time our thoroughly social nature. It’s only that our social relations, while vital to us all, must be chosen—that is what makes the crucial difference.”
Tibor R. Machan (1939–2016) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Collectivist Thinking Is Rife in the USA”, Strike The Root, March 1, 2004
“The state attains its ends as well through liberty as through government, as well through entrusting the care of matters of public interest to individuals as through the maintenance of public governmental services for their management.”
Frank Johnson Goodnow (1859–1939) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frank J. Goodnow: Municipal Home Rule. New York: Columbia University Press; 1906, p. 37
“Eternal vigilance is the condition, not only of liberty, but of everything which as civilized men we hold dear.”
August Heckscher II (1913–1997) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address, Kenyon College (April 4, 1957)
“I can suggest no remedy, but would prefer present evils to those resulting from the creation of too centralized a power; and the answer, to my mind, is obvious. The true remedy must be found, not in placing our dependence upon the discretion of any one, but of every one,—that is, again, upon liberty, rather than upon power and restraint.”
George Howard Earle Jr. (1856–1928) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking out against a central bank after the Panic of 1907. From "A Central Bank as a Menace to Liberty," by George H. Earle, Jr. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. XXXI No. 2: Les…
“It has been said that in controversy everything depends upon whether truth be put in the first or in the second place. And so in constitutional law much depends upon whether "liberty" be given precedence.”
George Howard Earle Jr. (1856–1928) first seen 1909 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From The Liberty to Trade as Buttressed by National Law (1909) by George H. Earle, Jr.
“Socialism is offered as a remedy. It is pretty to look at, but it does not mean liberty. It means just the other thing, because it brings us face to face with the same old equation. We know what the socialist leaders would do, for human nature does not change.”
George Howard Earle Jr. (1856–1928) first seen 1910 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From "George H. Earle, Jr., Doctor to Ailing Corporations". Munsey's Magazine (February 1910:683-691)
“Equality of treatment is the chief purpose for which the Government exists ... Liberty is but an equality of justice.”
George Howard Earle Jr. (1856–1928) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From Hearing Before the Committee on Interstate Commerce: United States Senate Sixty-second Congress pursuant to S. Res. 98 &c. (6 December 1911:803)
“If tyranny is going to come in the United States, it's going to come from people who are so fearful of the liberty of Americans, that they believe that the government should shut down all sorts of freedoms that we hold dear.”
Ben Shapiro (born 1984) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am writing in the main for students of Theosophy, I shall feel myself at liberty sometimes to use, for brevity's sake and with out detailed explanation, the ordinary Theosophical terms with which I may safely assume them to be familiar.”
Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934) said by 1934 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I pray that all polar opposites learn to Agape Love, live and work together as brothers and sisters — or perish as fools. While I voted for Mr. Trump, my confidence remains in God, for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Prayers for President-elect Trump, Congressman Lewis, and everyone including leaders.”
Alveda King (born 1951) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Alveda King, MLK’s niece: ‘I voted for Mr. Trump’ (January 16, 2017)
“The merit of Fascism was that it courageously and vigorously opposed itself to the prejudices of contemporary liberalism—to affirm that the liberty proposed by liberalism serves neither the people nor the individual.”
Giovanni Gentile (1875–1944) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Orgini e dottrina del fascismo, Rome: Libreria del Littorio, (1929). Origins and Doctrine of Fascism, A. James Gregor, translator and editor, Transaction Publishers (2003) p. 31
“The effects of the Framers' compromise have remained for generations. They arose from the contradiction between guaranteeing liberty and justice to all, and denying both to Negroes.”
Thurgood Marshall (1908–1993) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reflections on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, 6 May 1987
“I yield to authority. I think the practice of the Court of Chancery for more than one hundred years, and the authority of Judges of very great eminence, establish such a course of practice and such a chain of authority, that I do not think I am at liberty to assume that either the Court or those very learned Judges were in error as to their powers and jurisdiction.”
Hardinge Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury (1823–1921) first seen 1887 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attorney-General v. Marquess of Ailesbury (1887), L. J. (N. S.) 57 Q. B. 89.
“When the Statue of Liberty emerged from the mists I gazed at it with an awe close to the sublime. It seemed to me to be the embodiment of all the beauty and magnificence with which I had invested America in my dreams. I had been a little bit afraid that America wouldn't be what I had dreamed--and here was a dream come triumphantly true.”
Antonio Moreno (1887–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Were it necessary to bring a majority into a comprehension of the libertarian philosophy, the cause of liberty would be utterly hopeless. Every significant movement in history has been led by one or just a few individuals with a small minority of energetic supporters.”
Leonard E. Read (1898–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[E]ternal vigilance is the price of liberty,"...We see ourselves as a city on the hill, a stronghold for democracy, looking for threats from abroad. But the sense of the saying was entirely different: that human nature is such that American democracy must be defended from Americans who would exploit its freedoms to bring about its end.”
Timothy D. Snyder (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Fickle folk. A little hunger and stress and they forgot all about liberty.”
Glen Cook (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hope to have the satisfaction of seeing the renovation of liberty and justice resting on the British government, to vindicate the honour of our common nature.”
Olaudah Equiano (1745–1797) said by 1797 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Australia has, in its short history, paid a heavy price in human life in the cause of liberty and national survival. No one can foretell what the price will be in South-east Asia.”
Harold Holt (1908–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No association, no efficient combination of labor can be effected till men give up their liberty of action and subject themselves to a common despotic head or ruler. This is slavery, and towards this socialism is moving.”
George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our only quarrel with Socialism is, that it will not honestly admit that it owes its recent revival to the failure of universal liberty, and is seeking to bring about slavery again in some form.”
George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Liberty is an evil which government is intended to correct. This is the sole object of government.”
George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Liberty and equality are not only destructive to the morals, but to the happiness of society.”
George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and, in some sense, the freest people in the world. The children and the aged and infirm, work not at all, and yet have all the comforts and necessaries of life provided for them. They enjoy liberty, because they are opposed neither by care nor labor.”
George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Private property destroys liberty and equality.”
George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Man is a social and gregarious animal, and all such animals hold property in each other. Nature imposes upon them slavery as a law and necessity of their existence… The husband has a legally recognized property in his wife’s services, and may legally control, in some measure, her personal liberty. She is his property and his slave.”
George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man shows a narrowness of mind and becomes unworthy of his humanity by refusing any privilege to his fellow man because he is colored. Every prejudice entertained, every breach of justice and charity against a fellow-citizen because of color is a stain flung upon the banner of our liberty that floats over us.”
John Ireland (bishop) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To this day my seat on a saddle or on the back of a horse is as secure and tireless as in a rocking chair, and far more pleasurable. Sometimes, in later years, when I found myself suddenly on a strange horse in a trooper's saddle, flying for life or liberty in front of pursuit, I blessed the baby lessons of the wild gallops among the beautiful colts.”
Clara Barton (1821–1912) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Barton, Clara H. The Story of My Childhood. New York: Baker & Taylor Company, 1907. Reprinted by Arno Press in 1980.
“Democracy and liberty only exist when your armed forces want them to.”
Jair Bolsonaro (born 1955) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At a naval event in Rio de Janeiro, on 7 March 2019. Brazil's Bolsonaro says democracy, liberty depend on military. Reuters (7 March 2019).