Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,159,190 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Freedom
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“We are committed to the proposition that principles of morality and considerations for our own security will never permit us to acquiesce in a peace dictated by aggressors and sponsored by appeasers. We know that enduring peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are men who doubt this. There are men who believe that democracy, as a form of Government and a frame of life, is limited or measured by a kind of mystical and artificial fate — that, for some unexplained reason, tyranny and slavery have become the surging wave of the future — and that freedom is an ebbing tide. But we Americans know that this is not true.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For action has been taken within the three-way framework of the Constitution of the United States. The coordinate branches of the Government continue freely to function. The Bill of Rights remains inviolate. The freedom of elections is wholly maintained. Prophets of the downfall of American democracy have seen their dire predictions come to naught.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the Americas its impact has been irresistible. America has been the New World in all tongues, to all peoples, not because this continent was a new-found land, but because all those who came here believed they could create upon this continent a new life — a life that should be new in freedom.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;”
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Will people ever be wise enough to refuse to follow bad leaders or to take away the freedom of other people? (16 October 1939)”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let freedom ring, unless it's on vibrate.”
Joss Whedon (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They [the Pilgrim Fathers] believed in freedom of thought for themselves and for all other people who believed exactly as they did.”
Will Cuppy (1884–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I feel the hot winds of karma driving me. Nevertheless I remain here. My training was correct: I must not shrink from the clear white light, for if I do, I will once more re-enter the cycle of birth and death, never knowing freedom, never obtaining release. The veil of maya will fall once more.”
Philip K. Dick (1928–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Korolev stared at the man, who had the blundering, careless look of someone drunk on freedom since birth.”
William Gibson (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have given them life instead of death, freedom instead of the cords of superstition, beauty and truth instead of corruption and exploitation. The old bad days are over for them, the Light of the Aton has risen, and they can dwell in peace and harmony freed from the shadow of fear and oppression.”
Agatha Christie (1890–1976) first seen 1937 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Akhenaten, as portrayed in Akhnaton (1937); Christie later revised the play slightly in 1972, and it was published in 1973.
“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be strong, believe in freedom and in God, love yourself, understand your sexuality, have a sense of humor, masturbate, don't judge people by their religion, color or sexual habits, love life and your family.”
Madonna (entertainer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.”
Madonna (entertainer) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Apparently, a concern for others is self-love at its least attractive, while greed is now a sign of the higher altruism. But then to reverse, periodically, the meanings of words is a very small price to pay for the freedom not only to conform but to consume.”
Gore Vidal (1925–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A young delicate tree, that is being clipped and cut by the gardener in order to give it an artificial form, will never reach the majestic height and the beauty as when allowed to grow in nature and freedom.”
Emma Goldman (1869–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There can be no freedom in the large sense of the word, no harmonious development, so long as mercenary and commercial considerations play an important part in the determination of personal conduct.”
Emma Goldman (1869–1940) said by 1940 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To preserve Nature's chiefest boon, that is freedom, I can find means of offence and defence, when it is assailed by ambitious tyrants, and first I will speak of the situation of the walls, and also I shall show how communities can maintain their good and just Lords.”
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) said by 1519 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't have labels. I believe in human beings, I believe in a strong national security, I believe in maximizing freedom... I can give you a whole list of things i'm for, but I believe in solving problems. I guess, more than anything else, I'm a pragmatist with strong beliefs in people.”
Wesley Clark (born 1944) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Laura Knoy, New Hampshire Public Radio (5 November 2003)
“I thought I could organize freedom How Scandinavian of me”
Björk (born 1965) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hunter, (1997)
“Being unable to check the foreigner and the conqueror [the Muslim conquests], Indo-Aryan culture adopted a defensive attitude. It retired into a shell in its endeavours to protect itself. It made its caste system, which till then had an element of flexibility in it, more rigid and fixed. It reduced the freedom of its womenfolk.”
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom and power bring responsibility.”
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Where freedom is menaced or justice threatened or where aggression takes place, we cannot be and shall not be neutral.”
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization.”
Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Lindbergh (1998) by A. Scott Berg, p. 510
“Those who are really convinced that they have made progress in science would not demand freedom for the new views to continue side by side with the old, but the substitution of the new views for the old.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This fear of criticism displayed by the advocates of freedom of criticism cannot be attributed solely to craftiness. No, the majority of the Economists look with sincere resentment upon all theoretical controversies, factional disagreements, broad political questions, plans for organising revolutionaries, etc.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nobody is to be blamed for being born a slave; but a slave who not only eschews a striving for freedom but justifies and eulogies his slavery (e.g., calls the throttling of Poland and the Ukraine, etc., a "defense of the fatherland" of the Great Russians") - such a slave is a lickspittle and a boor, who arouses a legitimate feeling of indignation, contempt, and loathing.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The War and Russian Social-Democracy (September 1914), The Lenin Anthology
“Monopolies, oligarchy, the striving for domination and not for freedom, the exploitation of an increasing number of small or weak nations by a handful of the richest or most powerful nations — all these have given birth to those distinctive characteristics of imperialism which compel us to define it as parasitic or decaying capitalism.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Democracy is of great importance for the working class in its struggle for freedom against the capitalists. But democracy is by no means a boundary that must not be overstepped; it is only one of the stages in the process of development from feudalism to capitalism, and from capitalism to communism.”
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 5.4, Essential Works of Lenin (1966)
“At first flash of Eden, We race down to the sea. Standing there on Freedom's shore. Waiting for the sun...”
Jim Morrison (1943–1971) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Waiting for the Sun", on Morrison Hotel (1970)
“A question I have often asked is, "What would an inoffensive political cartoon look like?" What would a respectful cartoon look like? The form requires disrespect and so if we are going to have in the world things like cartoons and satire, we just have to accept it as part of the price of freedom.”
Salman Rushdie (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is doubtful if the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and power — power to oppress others. The oppressed want above all to imitate their oppressors; they want to retaliate.”
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in War and Conflict Quotations: A Worldwide Dictionary of Pronouncements from Military Leaders, Politicians, Philosophers, Writers and Others (1997) by Michael C. Thomsett and Jean F. Thomsett
“The impulse to think, to philosophize and spin beauty and brilliance out of mind and soul, is somehow the offspring of resistance — of an effort to overcome an apparently insurmountable obstacle. Hence cultural creativeness is more likely to flourish in an atmosphere of restriction, of an imposed pattern of thought and behavior, than in one of total freedom.”
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Entry (1956)
“One is not quite certain that creativeness in the arts, literature, and science functions best in an environment of absolute freedom. Chances are that a relatively mild tyranny stimulates creativeness.”
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Entry (1956)
“I tell you I cannot bear it! I shall do something desperate if this life is not changed soon. It gets worse and worse, and I often feel as if I'd gladly sell my soul to Satan for a year of freedom.”
Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) said by 1888 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No, I never wish that. I don't intend to die till I've enjoyed my life. Everyone has a right to happiness and sooner or later I will have it. Youth, health and freedom were meant to be enjoyed and I want to try every pleasure before I am too old to enjoy them.”
Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) said by 1888 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'll clue you in on a secret: death is not the worst thing that could happen to you. I know we think that; we are the first society ever to think that. It's not worse than dishonor; it's not worse than losing your freedom; its not worse than losing a sense of personal responsibility.”
Bill Maher (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Both are torn halves of an integral freedom, to which however they do not add up.”
Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On high culture and popular culture, in a letter to Walter Benjamin (18 March 1936)
“In the general tendency toward specialization, philosophy too has established itself as a specialized discipline, one purified of all specific content. In so doing, philosophy has denied its own constitutive concept: the intellectual freedom that does not obey the dictates of specialized knowledge.”
Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Men being born with a title to perfect freedom and uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature... no one can be put out of his estate and subjected to the political view of another, without his consent.”
William Penn (1644–1718) first seen 1682 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First Frame of Government (25 April 1682).
“Crime, folly, sickness and all phenomena must be contemplated with complete freedom from fear aversion or shame. Otherwise we shall fail to see accurately, and interpret intelligently; in which case we shall be unable to outwit and outfight them.”
Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Faced by the actual practice of freedom, the French and American revolutions would be forced to stand by their words.”
William S. Burroughs (1914–1997) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cities of the Red Night (1981)
“There is simply no room left for 'freedom from the tyranny of government' since city dwellers depend on it for food, power, water, transportation, protection, and welfare. Your right to live where you want, with companions of your choosing, under laws to which you agree, died in the eighteenth century with Captain Mission. Only a miracle or a disaster could restore it.”
William S. Burroughs (1914–1997) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cities of the Red Night (1981)
“Kick is seeing things from a special angle. Kick is momentary freedom from the claims of the aging, cautious, nagging, frightened flesh. Maybe I will find in yage what I was looking for in junk and weed and coke.”
William S. Burroughs (1914–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The essence of the modern state is the union of the universal with the full freedom of the particular, and with the welfare of individuals.”
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) said by 1831 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The History of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of Freedom; a progress whose development according to the necessity of its nature, it is our business to investigate.”
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) said by 1831 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Part III. Philosophic History; § 21, as translated by John Sibree; p. 19, (1900 edition)
“Slavery was the cause... [O]ur success was to be his freedom.”
William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891) first seen 1891 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman (1891), New York, pp. 2:180–81
“You look at the plan to increase the efforts to prop up the single currency with an ever denser system of integration, with more and more regulation about all sorts of social and economic issues which will impact directly on this country, I think the risk is increasingly in staying in the project. I think the best thing we can do is show a lead, show an example and strike out for freedom.”
Boris Johnson (born 1964) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Boris Johnson: EU exit 'win-win for us all', BBC News (11 March 2016)
“Unless we exercise our power to choose wisely, our actions will be determined by conditions. Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.”
Stephen Covey (1932–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Because of the space between stimulus and response, people have the power of choice; therefore, leaders are neither born nor made — meaning environmentally trained and nurtured. They are self-made through chosen responses, and if they choose based on principles and develop increasingly greater discipline, their freedom to choose increases.”
Stephen Covey (1932–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source