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

“Prediction of the fall of Russian communism: "Russia enveloped with communism—a new religious freedom must come. God will overrule it, for that people must hear the truth, and truth in simplicity. Truly there is much for the church to do in the coming century.”
David O. McKay (1873–1970) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: At Brigham Young University, reported in Church News, May 28, 1960.
“Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give.”
David O. McKay (1873–1970) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: LDS General Conference Report (April 1950) page 32
“Considering mankind's indifference to freedom, their easy gullibility and their facile response to conditioning, one might very plausibly argue that collectivism is the political mode best suited to their disposition and their capacities. Under its regime, the citizen, like the soldier, is relieved of the burden of initiative and is divested of all responsibility, save for doing as he is told.”
Albert Jay Nock (1870–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Birth control is the first important step woman must take toward the goal of her freedom. It is the first step she must take to be man’s equal. It is the first step they must both take toward human emancipation.”
Margaret Sanger (1879–1966) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Morality and Birth Control" (February-March 1918), pp. 11, 14.
“Pryn felt the reckless freedom of assertion.”
Samuel R. Delany (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe that only in that atmosphere of intellectual freedom can we solve the problems before us now.”
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) first seen 1963 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Man Against Himself" (1963) in Rachel Carson: Silent Spring & Other Writings on the Environment
“We are captive to systems of power until we can name the dominant myths and the intricate systems of coercion and control that extinguish our freedom.”
Chris Hedges (born 1956) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the American Political Science Association, text published by Truthdig (September 3, 2016)
“The government officials, along with the courtiers and the press, ... insist that congressional and judicial oversight, the right to privacy, the rule of law, the freedom of the press, the right to express dissent remains inviolate. They use the old words and old phrases, old laws and old constitutional guarantees, to give our corporate totalitarianism a democratic veneer.”
Chris Hedges (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Remember the refrain: We always build on the past; the past always tries to stop us. Freedom is about stopping the past, but we have lost that ideal.”
Lawrence Lessig (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Next to her services to religion, Ireland's greatest contribution to the welfare of humanity has been the example of devotion to freedom which she has given throughout seven hundred years.”
Éamon de Valera (1882–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The heavy hanging chains shall fall, The walls shall crumble at the word, And Freedom greet you with the light And brothers give you back the sword.”
Aleksandr Pushkin (1799–1837) said by 1837 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The enemies of Freedom do not argue; they shout and they shoot.”
William Ralph Inge (1860–1954) said by 1954 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To black Africans, the word “Uhuru” means “freedom,” but they had to fight the white colonizers for the right to use the term.”
Stokely Carmichael (1941–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Also quoted by: Charles V. Hamilton
“In dialectics, we know everything contains positive and negative attributes. Reforms can be used to advance Revolution or to forestall Revolution. Dialectics inform us that when the negative dominates the positive in reform it becomes an obstacle on the road to freedom; it must give way to Revolution.”
Stokely Carmichael (1941–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In Islam, if one operates against the interests of the country, one's freedom will be limited. This is both logical and spiritual.”
Ali Khamenei (1939–2026) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Yvette Hovsepian-Bearce, The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran, London: Routledge, 2016, p. 328.
“Today in many western countries, nobody dares question the Holocaust whose nature is questionable. According to the reports I have received, in America if people decide to write something against homosexuality on the basis of psychological and sociological principles, they will be prevented from publishing their work. How is it that these people feel obligated to respect freedom of expression?”
Ali Khamenei (1939–2026) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: September 17, 2012 comments made during a graduation ceremony at Imam Khomeini Naval Academy in Noshahr
“Give me blood and I will give you freedom.”
Subhas Chandra Bose (1897–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gird up your loins for the task that now lies ahead. I had asked you for men, money and materials. I have got them in generous measure. Now I demand more of you. Men, money and materials cannot by themselves bring victory or freedom. We must have the motive-power that will inspire us to brave deeds and heroic exploits.”
Subhas Chandra Bose (1897–1945) first seen 1944 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Burma (July 1944) as quoted in The Great Speeches of Modern India (2011) by Rudrangshu Mukherjee
“India is calling. Blood is calling to blood. Get up, we have no time to lose. Take up your arms ! we shall carve our way through the enemy's ranks, or if God wills, we shall die a martyr's death. And in our last sleep we shall kiss the road that will bring our Army to Delhi. The road to Delhi is the road to Freedom. Chalo Delhi (March to Delhi).”
Subhas Chandra Bose (1897–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in India Calling (1946) by himself and R. I. Paul, p. 5
“For every man who lives without freedom, the rest of us must face the guilt.”
Lillian Hellman (1905–1984) first seen 1941 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Watch on the Rhine (1941)
“Freedom means having the right to freely educate your children, and freely means no obligation to send them in a public school, where teachers want to inculcate principles different from the principles that their parents want to inculcate them in a familiar context.”
Silvio Berlusconi (1936–2023) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On public school, in Adoptions, gay couples and public school in la Repubblica (1 March 2011)
“In the Name of the God of Mercy, Compassion, Peace, Freedom and Justice. Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Today we have gathered here to exchange views about the world, its future and our common responsibilities towards it.”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The young tree of resistance in Palestine is blooming and blooms of faith and desire for freedom are flowering.”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the name of God. Peace be upon all the freedom loving people of the world”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born 1956) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter 5 Mar 2017
“Whoever believes they are better than others and imposes their beliefs on others; they are against freedom and justice.”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born 1956) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter 3 Jul 2017
“Thus by such victory, not by machines but in oppositions to the principle to the principles of machines, has the freedom of states been preserved by the cunning of architects.”
Vitruvius (80–15 BC) said by 15 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is only one good definition of God: the freedom that allows other freedoms to exist.”
John Fowles (1926–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sometimes I almost pity them [other women]. I think I have a freedom they cannot understand. No insult, no blame, can touch me. Because I have set myself beyond the pale. I am nothing. I am hardly human any more. I am the French Lieutenant's Whore.”
John Fowles (1926–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Technology is potential freedom from brutality.”
Michael Moorcock (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I felt sorry for him at that moment. He only wanted what every man wanted—freedom from fear, a chance to raise children with a reasonable certainty that they would be allowed to do the same, a chance to look forward to the future without the knowledge that any plans made might be wrecked forever by some sudden act of violence.”
Michael Moorcock (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An almost hysterical antagonism toward the gold standard is one issue which unites statists of all persuasions. They seem to sense—perhaps more clearly and subtly than many consistent defenders of laissez-faire—that gold and economic freedom are inseparable, that the gold standard is an instrument of laissez-faire and that each implies and requires the other.”
Alan Greenspan (1926–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A further reason why industrial society cannot be reformed in favor of freedom is that modern technology is a unified system in which all parts are dependent on one another. You can’t get rid of the "bad" parts of technology and retain only the "good" parts.”
Theodore Kaczynski (1942–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Thus it is clear that the human race has at best a very limited capacity for solving even relatively straightforward social problems. How then is it going to solve the far more difficult and subtle problem of reconciling freedom with technology?”
Theodore Kaczynski (1942–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We hope we have convinced the reader that the system cannot be reformed in such a way as to reconcile freedom with technology. The only way out is to dispense with the industrial-technological system altogether. This implies revolution, not necessarily an armed uprising, but certainly a radical and fundamental change in the nature of society.”
Theodore Kaczynski (1942–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every now and then, you get people who tend to forget what this country is about, which is a melting pot of races and cultures and freedom of speech.”
Maynard James Keenan (born 1964) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: George Varga (October 25, 2001) "The Tool Man: Blistering band's frontman puts his mind to the world's problems", The San Diego Union-Tribune, p. 4.
“In many cases, ignorance is a good thing : the mind retains its freedom of investigation and does not stray along roads that lead nowhither, suggested by one's reading. I have experienced this once again. ... Yes, ignorance can have its advantages; the new is found far from the beaten track.”
Jean Henri Fabre (1823–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“America! Ha ha ha! We love you! How many people are proud to be citizens of this beautiful country of ours, the stripes and the stars for the rights that men have died for to protect, the women and men who have broke their necks for the freedom of speech the United States government has sworn to uphold… or so we're told.”
Eminem (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes, your father and Bartolo They have fallen And yesterday they fought and fell But in the quest for joy and freedom And in the struggle of this life you'll find That there is love and sometimes more Yes, in the struggle you will find That you can love and be loved alsoForgive me all who are my friends I am with you I beg of you, do not cry”
Joan Baez (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are not compelled to believe in biological uniformity in order to affirm human freedom and dignity.”
E. O. Wilson (1929–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Won't you help to sing, These songs of freedom? 'Cause all I ever had, Redemption songs.”
Bob Marley (1945–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By freedom he meant a condition in which men were not prevented from choosing both the object and the manner of their worship. For him only a society in which this condition was realised could be called fully human. Its realisation was an ideal which Mill regarded as more precious than life itself.”
Isaiah Berlin (1909–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I say legalize marijuana because we have a chance to leave this world a better place for our children. Marijuana legalization is job creation, tax dollars, something to rejuvenate our pathetic economy. This is a multibillion-dollar industry. This is about jobs; this is about economics; this is about freedom. This is about taking our country back.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jesse Ventura's Marijuana Manifesto (2016), Introduction
“Neither love nor hate, nor any order of intense adherence to personal involvement in human experience, may be so apt to serve the soul as this freedom and this necessity to be kind.”
William Saroyan (1908–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”
William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) first seen 1783 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Commons (18 November 1783). Compare: "And with necessity, / The tyrant's plea, / excus'd his devilish deeds", John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book iv, line 393.
“Where’s it leading to, freedom at what cost? People needing more and more and it’s all getting lost”
Cat Stevens (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The gay rights movement is not a party. It is not a lifestyle. It is not a hair style. It is not a fad or a fringe or a sickness. It is not about sin or salvation. The gay rights movement is an integral part of the American promise of freedom.”
Urvashi Vaid (1958–2022) said by 2022 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I would prefer to remain in prison for another 20 years than bargain my beliefs for freedom.”
Samir Geagea (born 1952) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: November 2004, speaking to a delegation from the Human Rights Committee of the Lebanese Parliament, quoted in "Samir Geagea will be out of Jail this weekend" in Ya Libnan (18 July 2005)
“Very often the things that cost nothing cost us the most heavily; I can show you many objects the quest and acquisition of which have wrested freedom from our hands.”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“So near at hand is freedom, and is anyone still a slave?”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our minds must have relaxation: rested, they will rise up better and keener. Just as we must not force fertile fields (for uninterrupted production will quickly exhaust them), so continual labor will break the power of our minds. They will recover their strength, however, after they have had a little freedom and relaxation.”
Seneca the Younger (5 BC–65) said by 65 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source