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
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Freedom
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“A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul and that, I am sure, is why he does it.”
Roald Dahl (1916–1990) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Goodbye school" in Boy: Tales of Childhood (1984)
“The principle of flexibility... suggests a corresponding strategy of conflict resolution. ...the community will need stability and change, order and freedom, tradition and innovation. ...these unavoidable conflicts are much better resolved by establishing a dynamic balance.”
Fritjof Capra (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The whole world yearns after freedom, yet each creature is in love with his chains; this is the first paradox and inextricable knot of our nature.”
Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Politics is the work of the Kshatriya and it is the virtues of the Kshatriya we must develop if we are to be morally fit for freedom.”
Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bande Mataram, 1907
“My brother was the first President of the United States to state publicly that segregation was morally wrong. His heart and his soul are in this bill. If his life and death had a meaning, it was that we should not hate but love one another; we should use our powers not to create conditions of oppression that lead to violence, but conditions of freedom that lead to peace.”
Ted Kennedy (1932–2009) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: First Senate floor speech, in support of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (9 April 1964)
“We are the party of the New Freedom, the New Deal, and the New Frontier. We have always been the party of hope. So this year, let us offer new hope— new hope to an America uncertain about the present but unsurpassed in its potential for the future.”
Ted Kennedy (1932–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we set the precedent of limiting the First Amendment, in order to protect the sensibilities of those who are offended by flag burning, what will we say the next time someone is offended by some other minority view, or by some other person's exercise of the freedom the Constitution is supposed to protect?”
Ted Kennedy (1932–2009) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Constituent letter (1997)
“Florida looks like a gigantic penis! Doesn't it? Have you ever googled it? It looks like a gigantic peener! About to shoot a load of freedom all over Cuba. A bukkake of choices and ideas.”
Dave Attell (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Complacencies of the peignoir, and late Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair, And the green freedom of a cockatoo Upon a rug mingle to dissipate The holy hush of ancient sacrifice.”
Wallace Stevens (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Iraq was not involved in 9-11, Iraq was not a terrorist state. But now that we have decimated the country, the borders are open, freedom fighters from other countries are going in, and they [the U.S. government] have created more terrorism by going to an Islamic country...”
Cindy Sheehan (born 1957) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with CBS News' Mark Knoller, upon her arrival in Crawford, Texas(6 August 2005)
“The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.”
Bell hooks (1952–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Anything that can hurt the convictions of another, particularly religious convictions, must be avoided. Freedom of expression must be exercised in a spirit of responsibility. I condemn all manifest provocation that might dangerously fan passions.”
Jacques Chirac (1932–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By his willingly renouncing self-defence, the Christian affirms his absolute adherence to Jesus, and his freedom from the tyranny of his own ego. The exclusiveness of this adherence is the only power which can overcome evil.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God — the responsible man, who tries to make his whole life an answer to the question and call of God. Where are these responsible people?”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Distant or near, in joy or in sorrow, each in the other sees his true helper to brotherly freedom.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We protect the right of pacifists and other anti-war militants to assemble and advance their cause. But I don’t respect such people and I don’t shrink from exposing their ideas as destructive and suicidal. Pacifists are my enemy because wittingly or not, they serve the purposes of my enemy and jeopardize my freedom.”
Mike Rosen (born 1944) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: October 5, 2001 Rocky Mountain News column
“The ego becomes more like the inner ego and less like its old self, comparatively speaking. It accepts large portions of reality that it previously denied. Structurally, it remains intact, yet it has changed chemically and electromagnetically. Now it is far more open to inner data. Once this freedom is achieved, the ego can never return to its old state.”
Jane Roberts (1929–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom of expression must also bow to the necessity for clear communication, as many of science fiction’s failed experiments of the sixties demonstrate.”
Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sexual freedom, sexual liberation. A modern delusion. We are hierarchical animals. Sweep one hierarchy away, and another will take its place, perhaps less palatable than the first.”
Camille Paglia (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The search for freedom through sex is doomed to failure.”
Camille Paglia (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Lord Byron and Shelley and Plunkett, McDonough and Hunt and Pearse See now why their hatred of tyrants Was so insistently fierce. Is Freedom only a Will-o'-the-wisp To cheat a poet's eye? Be it phantom or fact, it's a noble cause In which to sing and to die!”
Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918) said by 1918 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The immediate future, regardless of Carter, was as dangerous as it had ever been. And the temptation many people seemed to feel to sacrifice their freedom to stern utopians who promised to order that future for them was growing stronger.”
Stephen Baxter (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Existential analytics [the object of the book] decides nothing about the existence of God, about human freedom and the immortality of the soul.”
Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) said by 1976 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One thing I will add: if I have ever found kindness, it has not been from Liberals; to disengage myself from them was the first act of my freedom.”
Mary Shelley (1797–1851) first seen 1837 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Edward Trelawny (27 January 1837). Google Books
“The goal of the Left is a government-run country and that of the Right the freedom of the individual from government. Page 236.”
David Mamet (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was Africa distilled up through six thousand feet like the strong and refined essence of a continent... The views were immensely wide — everything that you saw made for greatness and freedom, and unequalled nobility.”
Karen Blixen (1885–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom of expression is guaranteed by our constitution.”
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I do not want art for a few, any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.”
William Morris (1834–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not the first time that Belgium has had to undergo a dangerous ordeal. But never has the situation been more serious than today! … Freedom, honor, the very existence of the fatherland is at stake.”
Leopold II of Belgium (1835–1909) first seen 1870 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Leopold II, Het hele Verhaal, Johan Op De Beeck Horizon, 2020 King Leopold II In a 1870 speech to the Belgian Parliament as a reaction to the growing threat of war between Prussia and France.
“I don't think Osama bin Laden sent those planes to attack us because he hated our freedom. I think he did it because of our support for Israel, our ties with the Saudi family and our military bases in Saudi Arabia. You know why I think that? Because that's what he fucking said! Are we a nation of 6-year-olds? Answer: yes.”
David Cross (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the terrorists hated freedom, the Netherlands would be fucking dust.”
David Cross (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As long as there's hate in your heart, there'll be hate in the world. You can't fight for peace and you cannot capture freedom.”
Charles Manson (1934–2017) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview track from Charles Manson Sings (2006)
“In love, no one can harm anyone else; we are each of us responsible for our own feelings and cannot blame someone else for what we feel. It hurt when I lost each of the various men I fell in love with. Now, though, I am convinced that no one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it.”
Paulo Coelho (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those who would trade in their freedom For their protection deserve neither”
Talib Kweli (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If man puts his honor first in relying upon himself, knowing himself and applying himself, this in self-reliance, self-assertion, and freedom, he then strives to rid himself of the ignorance which makes a strange impenetrable object a barrier and a hindrance to his self-knowledge.”
Max Stirner (1806–1856) said by 1856 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is not supposed to be my concern! First and foremost, the Good Cause, then God's cause, the cause of mankind, of truth, of freedom, of humanity, of justice; further, the cause of my people, my prince, my fatherland; finally, even the cause of Mind, and a thousand other causes. Only my cause is never to be my concern. "Shame on the egoist who thinks only of himself!”
Max Stirner (1806–1856) said by 1856 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cambridge 1995, p. 5
“I have no need to take up each thing that wants to throw its cause on us and show that it is occupied only with itself, not with us, only with its good, not with ours. Look at the rest for yourselves. Do truth, freedom, humanity, justice, desire anything else than that you grow enthusiastic and serve them?”
Max Stirner (1806–1856) said by 1856 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cambridge 1995, p. 6
“Now why, if freedom is striven after for love of the I after all — why not choose the I himself as beginning, middle, and end?”
Max Stirner (1806–1856) said by 1856 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dover 2005, p. 163
“Freedom" awakens your rage against everything that is not you; "egoism" calls you to joy over yourselves, to self-enjoyment.”
Max Stirner (1806–1856) said by 1856 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dover 2005, p. 163
“Pakistan not only means freedom and independence but Muslims ideology which has to be preserved which has come to us a precious gift and treasure and which we hope, others will share with us.”
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876–1948) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to Frontier Muslim Students Federation 18 June 1945.
“I give you a replica of liberator Simon Bolivar's sword. For you who, like Bolivar, took up arms to liberate your people. For you who, like Bolivar, are and will always be a true freedom fighter. [Mugabe] continues, alongside his people, to confront the pretensions of new imperialists.”
Hugo Chávez (1954–2013) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Praising Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as a freedom fighter, as quoted in "Chavez's colourful quotations" at BBC News (12 November 2007)
“There goes the last DJ Who plays what he wants to play, And says what he wants to say. Hey, hey, hey. There goes your freedom of choice; There goes the last human voice. There goes the last DJ.”
Tom Petty (1950–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Americans are mostly engaged in trade and plantations. Their chief object is to make money. And, in truth, money is freedom.”
Horace Walpole (1717–1797) said by 1797 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Supposing I was to tell you that it's just Beauty that's calling me, the beauty of the far off and unknown, the mystery and spell of the East which lures me in the books I've read, the need of the freedom of great wide spaces, the joy of wandering on and on — in quest of the secret which is hidden over there, beyond the horizon?”
Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953) said by 1953 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Germans, who love order more than freedom, and whose ruling passion is obedience, rejoiced in their release from an uncomfortable equality into new ranks of superiors and inferiors. This is the second source of Hitler's success.”
Emil Ludwig (1881–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That which sees all this, and the nothing too, is the inner teacher. He alone is, all else appears to be. He is your own self (swarupa), your hope and assurance of freedom, find him and cling to him and you will be saved and safe.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“England may as well dam up the waters of the Nile with bulrushes as to fetter the step of Freedom, more proud and firm in this youthful land than where she treads the sequestered glens of Scotland, or couches herself among the magnificent mountains of Switzerland.”
Lydia Maria Child (1802–1880) said by 1880 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have to call it "freedom": who'd die for "a lesser tyranny"?”
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All one's life as a young woman one is on show, a focus of attention, people notice you. You set yourself up to be noticed and admired. And then, not expecting it, you become middle-aged and anonymous. No one notices you. You achieve a wonderful freedom. It's a positive thing. You can move about unnoticed and invisible.”
Doris Lessing (1919–2013) first seen 1989 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in An Uncommon Scold (1989) by Abby Adams, p. 18
“Freedom or jail clips inserted, a baby's being born/ Same time a man is murdered, the beginning and end.”