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. 1,161,747 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

English Italiano Polski עברית Français Português فارسی Español 中文 Русский Deutsch العربية हिन्दी 日本語 Ελληνικά Latina Nederlands

Freedom

Love Friendship Happiness Hope Fear Courage Death Life Time War Peace Freedom Truth Wisdom Knowledge Science Art Music Nature Money Work Power God Beauty Laughter Family Success and failure Change Dreams Books and reading

“We oppose the Jews because we are defending the freedom of the German people. The Jew is the cause and beneficiary of our slavery He has misused the social misery of the broad masses to deepen the dreadful split between the right and left of our people.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What collapsed at that time? First of all a lot of high walls, which divided people, nations and all continents in defiance of common sense. The Iron Curtain, which separated European nations subordinated to the soviet empire from nations which celebrated freedom, collapsed... Walls built among citizens by omnipresent fear tumbled down.”
Václav Havel (1936–2011) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1 January 1999. Quoted at the European Solidarity Centre.
“Those who rebelled against totalitarian rule and those who simply managed to remain themselves and think freely, were all persecuted. We should not forget any of those who paid for our present freedom in one way or another.”
Václav Havel (1936–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It has become clear that the legacy of the past decades we have to cope with is even worse than we anticipated or could anticipate in the joyful atmosphere of those first weeks of freedom. New problems are emerging day by day, and we can see how interconnected they are, how long it takes to solve them, and how difficult it is to establish priorities.”
Václav Havel (1936–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When there is freedom from mechanical conditioning, there is simplicity. The classical man is just a bundle of routine, ideas and tradition. If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow — you are not understanding yourself.”
Bruce Lee (1940–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whether or not we can get together, remember well that art “lives” where absolute freedom is. With all the training thrown to nowhere, with a mind (if there is such a verbal substance) perfectly unaware of its own working, with the “self” vanishing nowhere, the art of JKD attains its perfection.”
Bruce Lee (1940–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Moment is freedom. — I couldn't live by a rigid schedule. I try to live freely from moment to moment, letting things happen and adjusting to them.”
Bruce Lee (1940–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reality is being itself. — It is being itself, in becoming itself. Reality in its isness, the "isness" of a thing. Thus isness is the meaning — having freedom in its primary sense — not limited by attachments, confinements, partialization, complexities.”
Bruce Lee (1940–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is our fucking city! And nobody is gonna dictate our freedom. Stay Strong! (After the Boston Marathon Bombings)”
David Ortiz (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[P]rivate enterprise and initiative, willing to take risks in the hope of gain, allowed to function in freedom, have produced the greatest wealth ever known in the history of mankind. And that if you stop this process and turn everything over to government, the activity will slow down, inventiveness will cease, and we shall get not equalization of riches, but equalization of poverty.”
Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Unity, in Fascist terms, means uniformity; freedom of conscience means insubordination; co-ordination means coercion.”
Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 20, "Political Dictionary" March 19, 1936)
“She had her freedom, and it was empty. The moment was not the highest of her life, but the lowest and most desolate, which was altogether excellent, for instead of slipping downward she began to climb.”
Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And Freedom shrieked — as Kosciuszko fell!”
Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746–1817) said by 1817 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A nation which makes the final sacrifice for life and freedom does not get beaten.”
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938) said by 1938 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Ataturk (1944) by M. M. Mousharrafa, p. 130
“A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define and limit the possibilities of each other's lives. It is the knowledge that people have of each other, their concern for each other, their trust in each other, the freedom with which they come and go among themselves.”
Wendell Berry (1934–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom can never be found by the use of a foreign force”
Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) first seen 1793 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Opposing the annexation of Belgium, 5th February 1793. Robespierre, Oeuvres, v. 270
“To be armed for personal defence is the right of every man, to be armed to defend freedom and the existence of the common fatherland is the right of every citizen”
Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) first seen 1790 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the organisation of the National Guard (5 December 1790)
“Blows are what awaken us and help to break the dream. They show us the insufficiency of this world and make us long to escape, to have freedom.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom can never be reached by the weak. Throw away all weakness. Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If a piece of burning charcoal be placed on a man’s head, see how he struggles to throw it off. Similar will be the struggle for freedom of those who really understand that they are slaves of nature.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Karma is the eternal assertion of human freedom. If we can bring ourselves down by our karma, surely it is in our power to raise ourselves by our own karma.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our supreme duty is to advance toward freedom—physical, mental, and spiritual—and help others to do so.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pray all the time, read all the scriptures in the world, and worship all the gods there are ...but unless you realize the Truth, there is no freedom.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Pray all the time, read all the scriptures in the world, and worship all the gods there are …[but] unless you realize the Self (atman), there is no freedom.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The human soul has sojourned in lower and higher forms, migrating from one to another according to the samskaras or impressions, but it is only in the highest form as a human being that it attains to freedom.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is to be found in every religion the manifestation of the struggle toward freedom. It is the groundwork of all morality, of unselfishness, which means getting rid of the idea that human beings are the same as this little body.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So much had changed inside him. He was no believer in causes, not any more. Certainty was an illusion, a lie. Fanaticism was poison in the soul, and the first victim in its inexorable, ever-growing list was compassion. Who could speak of freedom, when one's soul was bound in chains?”
Steven Erikson (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If dreams of flying are the last hope of freedom, I will pray for wings with my last breath.”
Steven Erikson (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Peace did not serve order; order served peace, and when order became godlike, sacrosant and inviolate, then the peace thus won became a prison, and those who sought their freedom became enemies to order, and in the elimination of such enemies, peace was lost.'”
Steven Erikson (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat, do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.”
Yasser Arafat (1929–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have been blessed with great presidents, with giants among us. Men of character, integrity and selflessness have led our nation from its very beginning. None were perfect: each surely made mistakes. But in every case, they acted out of the desire to do what was right for America and for freedom.”
Mitt Romney (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I understand the anger Americans feel today. In the past, our presidents have channeled that anger, and forged it into resolve, into endurance and high purpose, and into the will to defeat the enemies of freedom. Our anger was transformed into energy directed for good.”
Mitt Romney (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I love our country. I believe that our Constitution was inspired by Providence. I am convinced that freedom itself is dependent on the strength and vitality of our national character. As it is with each senator, my vote is an act of conviction. We have come to different conclusions, fellow senators, but I trust we have all followed the dictates of our conscience.”
Mitt Romney (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today was heart-breaking, and — I was shaken to the core as I thought about the people I met in China and Russia and Afghanistan and Iraq and other places who yearn for freedom, and who look to this building and these shores as a place of hope, and I saw the images being broadcast around the world, and it breaks my heart.”
Mitt Romney (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Marriage partners, not government, should define the terms and spiritual orientation of their union in accordance with our nation's guarantee of religious freedom.”
Michael Badnarik (1954–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Georg Cantor claimed the essence of mathematics lies in its freedom. But mathematicians do not pick problems from thin air for the pleasure of solving them. To the contrary, a mark of greatness resides in the ability to identify the most interesting problems in the framework of what is already known.”
Benoît Mandelbrot (1924–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There's a freedom there and an understanding of my career and the things I've done. I'm seen here as primarily a comic actor, which is OK, but I can go to New York and I do something that's very emotional. It would be lovely at some point to do something like that on film.”
Nathan Lane (born 1956) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Betsy Pickle (December 17, 1999) "If there's a mouse, call Lane - Actor didn't 'paws' before taking on film", The Knoxville News-Sentinel, p. 4.
“A slave's soul has no worth, my brothers; it lacks strength to tread on this great earth with gallantry and freedom. I pity the poor slaves, they're nought but airy mist, a light breeze scatters them, a fragrance knocks them down; it's only just they crawl on the earth on hands and knees. Today I'll write a hymn to God and pray for this great grace.”
Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cursed be all those on land and sea who eat their fill, cursed be all those who starve yet raise no hand in protest, cursed be all the bread, the wine, the meat which day by day descends deep in the entrails of the exploited man and turns not into freedom's cry, the murderer's ruthless knife!”
Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Americans have] a continuing normative commitment to the ideals of individual freedom and mobility, values that extend far beyond the issue of race in the American mind. The depth of this commitment may be summarily dismissed as the unfounded optimism of the average American—I may not be Donald Trump now, but just you wait; if I don't make it, my children will.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Race and Rights Rhetoric", a law school paper, as quoted in Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama (2017) by David Garrow, and reported in "Young Obama Said the American Dream Is to Be Donald Trump", Vice (12 May 2017)
“We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks Against Going to War with Iraq (2 October 2002).
“Today, on this day of possibility, we stand in the shadow of a lanky, raw-boned man with little formal education who once took the stage at Old Main and told the nation that if anyone did not believe the American principles of freedom and equality, that those principles were timeless and all-inclusive, they should go rip that page out of the Declaration of Independence.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Knox College Commencement Address (4 June 2005)
“People of Berlin — and people of the world — the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They call it Armageddon, the end of freedom as we know it. After I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there were any asteroids falling, some cracks opening up in the earth. Turned out it was a nice day.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At a speech at the University of Iowa after signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (25 March 2010)
“You're the ones who are going to have to seize freedom, because a true revolution of the spirit begins in each of our hearts.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our overriding interest throughout these past few years has been to encourage a government that legitimately reflects the will of the Egyptian people, and recognizes true democracy as requiring a respect for minority rights and the rule of law, freedom of speech and assembly, and a strong civil society.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama in Address to the United Nations General Assembly (24 September 2013)
“And while we recognize that our influence will at times be limited, although we will be wary of efforts to impose democracy through military force, and although we will at times be accused of hypocrisy and inconsistency, we will be engaged in the region for the long haul. For the hard work of forging freedom and democracy is the task of a generation.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama in Address to the United Nations General Assembly (24 September 2013)
“Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But the fact that we can stand here today, along the fault line where a city was divided, speaks to an eternal truth: No wall can stand against the yearning of justice, the yearnings for freedom, the yearnings for peace that burns in the human heart.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source