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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“Women have no rights, Don, except what men allow us. Men are more aggressive and powerful, and they run the world. When the next real crisis upsets them, our so-called rights will vanish like—like that smoke. We'll be back where we always were: property. And whatever has gone wrong will be blamed on our freedom, like the fall of Rome was. You'll see.”
James Tiptree Jr. (1915–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Give me my freedom for as long as I be All I ask of livin' is to have no chains on me All I ask of livin' is to have no chains on me And all I ask of dyin' is to go naturally... And when I die, and when I'm gone There'll be one child born, in our world To carry on, to carry on...”
Laura Nyro (1947–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The capacity for personal freedom is a rare talent. Talent exists to be used. We do not ask sheep to be wolves; we, the wolves, do not ask ourselves to be sheep. Sheep can make such rules as happen to suit them--but it's foolishly naive to expect wolves to obey.”
Matthew Stover (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And in the name of this gospel of freedom, she had imprisoned herself; in the name of "living life honestly," she would go to her death. It was, he supposed, the only way she could make herself feel special.”
Matthew Stover (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The other night at a neighborhood restaurant the waiter, after mentioning he had read my books, said about himself, “I’m white, I’m nothing.” But that was what I wanted, you see, growing up in America—the freedom of being nothing, the confidence of it, the arrogance. And I achieved it.”
Richard Rodriguez (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dictatorship of the majority over the minority would be an encroachment on the rights of the individual and their prerogative to personal freedom.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Social media amplifies both the good side and the dark side of human nature. ... Notwithstanding human ignorance, freedom of expression is essential.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Satire in media such as The Interview and Charlie Hebdo walk a fine line between freedom of speech and dangerous incitement.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Although our every move may be monitored and recorded, we feel complete freedom to do whatsoever we want other than causing harm to others or damages to properties.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Marc Goodman, global security advisor and futurist, spoke at the TEDGlobal 2012 in Edinburgh about his ominous warning: “If you control the code, you control the world. This is the future that awaits us.” First source code, then genetic code. Transhumanists are well aware of that danger and are highly respectful of individual freedom and privacy in the new era of total information awareness.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Amish are exempt from military service due to their belief in “non-resistance.” Why can’t humankind do the same in the name of peace, love, and freedom?”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A utopia or heaven on earth is a place where every would-be Mozart has access to a piano and violin before the age of five, where every would-be Beethoven is empowered to compose music in spite of deafness, where every individual can get quality education regardless of their socioeconomic status and place of residence, and where everyone is given good health and freedom to pursue their dreams.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are many undiscovered Mozarts, Beethovens, Einsteins, Shakespeares, Lincolns, and Washingtons out there today who do not have the freedom or the opportunity to explore their talents due to economic, political, and other constraints.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Notwithstanding human ignorance spreading misinformation and disinformation, freedom of speech is essential.”
Newton Lee wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom.”
Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986) first seen 1946 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Blood of Others [Le sang des autres] (1946)
“How can you ban language, words? How're words offensive? And why should I have to tolerate YOUR interpretation? I'm the one using the word. ASK me how I'm using it, don't TELL me. And if you don't like the way I'm using it, so what? It's my right. It's my freedom of expression. Without that, we're nothing but slaves. My language, now fuck off!!!”
John Lydon (born 1956) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In response to the infamous court case against Richard Branson and the owner of a Nottingham Virgin Records shop who was arrested for publicly displaying the word "bollocks" in his window while promoting the album "Neve…
“'Daring with my poem 'Special Pleading' to give myself such freedom as I desired, in my own style'”
Sidney Lanier (1842–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Political and social justice requires, not the disintegration of a country and destruction or humiliation of a class which shows initiative, intelligence and drive, but equality of opportunity for all, genuine freedom for self-fulfilment, in which all men irrespective of caste or creed may share.”
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (1901–1953) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech delivered at Benaras Hindu University Convocation on 1st December 1940.
“We stand then for freedom, because we claim the right to develop our own individuality and evolve our own destiny along our own lines, unembarrassed by what Western civilisation has to teach us and unhampered by the institutions which the West has imposed.”
Chittaranjan Das (1870–1925) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Undelivered presidential address for the session of Indian Congress held at Ahmedabad in December 1921. Source: Collected Works of Deshbandhu.
“The general tendency of evolution is from structure to function, from bondage to freedom of the individual elements.”
Boris Sidis (1867–1923) said by 1923 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The freedom of the seemingly false opinion and our tolerance of it and our willingness to meet with it in the open help test the validity of truth while keeping alive the critical sense which is the main spring of all advancement of human thought and is the vital point, the very soul, of all human progress.”
Boris Sidis (1867–1923) said by 1923 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[The] U.S., where our constitution guarantees virtually unlimited freedom of speech, except, of course, when the Supreme Court decides it’s cool for a public university to ban drag shows. Yeah, that happened two months ago. It’s kind of surprising no one flew a pride flag upside down on their lawn in protest.”
John Oliver (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Justification, in terms of the broadening of freedom, for any particular form of institution of property must be argued in terms of whether the losses caused by the restrictions imposed are greater or less than the gains derived from the elimination of costly conflict.”
Kenneth Boulding (1910–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 119 cited in: Warren J. Samuels, James M. Buchanan (2007) The Legal-Economic Nexus. p. 54
“Democracy has nothing to do with freedom. Democracy is a soft variant of communism, and rarely in the history of ideas has it been taken for anything else.”
Hans-Hermann Hoppe (born 1949) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reflections on State and War" (2 December 2006)
“Well I couldn't agree with you more, so the timing and the sense of urgency. That's why with everything within us we need to start literally banging garbage lids together, to create enough noise so that our neighbors and our co-workers realize where the time clock is at this point, because the second hand is literally banging up against 11:59 on the clock on freedom when it comes to health care.”
Michele Bachmann (born 1956) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On right-wing radio station Hot Tea Radio, 2010-03-08
“We are unwilling to let this cabal of radicals pull the rug of freedom out from under us in our lifetime. Now we have this glorious opportunity called November.”
Michele Bachmann (born 1956) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Frederick County Republican Central Committee's Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, 2010-04-25
“Freedom of expression is no longer a political nicety, but a precondition for economic competitiveness.”
Alvin Toffler (1928–2016) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1997 interview with John Perry Barlow, as reported on Twitter
“I personally believe that India has much to learn from the Western culture but, I am afraid, very little from Western Christianity.... Wherever Christianity went, it carried fire and sword... The natives lost their body as well as their souls. Now most of these countries have regained their political freedom but they have not recovered their souls.”
Ram Swarup (1920–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have about half a second to make a crucial decision: I can either sprint and hope I make it there before I shit in my boxers, or I can stick my thumb up into my ass and shuffle the 60 yards to lavatory freedom.”
Tucker Max (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dear Mr. Lincoln, We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!”
Mark Williams (radio host) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To be a Christian - a follower of Jesus Christ - is to love wisdom, love justice, and love freedom. (p172)”
Cornel West (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our passionate adherence to democracy and freedom is based on the spiritual recognition of the Divinity of man. We are not only not communal but we are nationalists and democrats. The Anti-Fascist Front must extend from the English Channel to the Bay of Bengal.”
Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee (1895–1971) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hindu Politics (Calcutta, 1945), p.13
“Humanity can not be made equal by declarations on paper. Unless the material conditions for equality exist, it is worse than mockery to pronounce men equal. And unless there is equality (and by equality I mean equal chances for every one to make the most of himself) unless, I say, these equal chances exist, freedom, either of thought, speech, or action, is equally a mockery.”
Voltairine de Cleyre (1866–1912) said by 1912 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Lots of people come just to dance and have a good time. Here you can do anything you want to do, be anyone you want to be. It's called freedom. Be careful, it can be contagious.”
Witi Ihimaera (born 1944) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Under a socialist system every nation will be the supreme arbiter of its own destinies, national and international; will be forced into no alliance against its will, but will have its independence guaranteed and its freedom respected by the enlightened self-interest of the socialist democracy of the world.”
James Connolly (1868–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in Samuel Levenson, James Connolly (Martin, Brian and O'Keeffe, London, 1973), p. 56.
“I was only a working-class boy from a Nationalist ghetto, but it is repression that creates the revolutionary spirit of freedom. I shall not settle until I achieve liberation of my country, until Ireland becomes a sovereign, independent socialist republic.”
Bobby Sands (1954–1981) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Republican News, (16 December 1978)
“And now, the American people, proud of our country, proud of our freedom, proud of ourselves, will reject the San Francisco Democrats and send Ronald Reagan back to the White House.”
Jeane Kirkpatrick (1926–2006) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the 1984 Republican National Convention (1984), Dallas
“They ambled around the world through the Glops, into multi enclaves, onto the tubes and the zips, far more freely and safely than people or animals could. Shira watched it wistfully. That was true freedom, she thought, something now available only to special machines. (fourteen: BY THE LIGHT OF THE UNYELLOW MOON)”
Marge Piercy (born 1936) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not a politician or a public servant. I am still a journeyman actor and a peace and justice activist. I'm a pilgrim trying to win my freedom and serve as best I can in the time I have, with this gift I've been given.”
Martin Sheen (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is no more evident that democratic institutions are to be measured by the sort of person they create than that they are to be measured against divine commands. … Even if the typical character types of liberal democracies are bland, calculating, petty, and unheroic, the prevalence of such people may be a reasonable price to pay for political freedom.”
Richard Rorty (1931–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“….The Greek War of Independence, which came to a successful conclusion in 1832, affected less than one half of the Greeks in the Turkish Empire. It did not bring freedom to the Greeks of Macedonia and Thrace, of Crete and the Aegean Islands, nor to the more than two million Greeks in Asia Minor and Constantinople.”
Henry Morgenthau Sr. (1856–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“During the last years of the war I went to live in BROOKLYN in the most forlorn region of the oceanic tragic city, in Williamsburg, near the bridge. Brooklyn gave me a sense of liberation. The vast view of her sky, in opposition to the narrow one of NEW YORK, was a relief — and at night, in her solitude, I used to find, intact, the green freedom of my own self.”
Joseph Stella (1877–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When asked what he puts on his hair: "Mostly orphans' tears, old clock parts, lizard's tails, spit, the concept of freedom; all up there, all shooshed up right nice and tight, like a bonfire that's never actually burned... it mutters follicular oddities into my mind.”
Russell Brand (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are so concerned to flatter the majority that we lose sight of how very often it is necessary, in order to preserve freedom for the minority, let alone for the individual, to face that majority down.”
William F. Buckley Jr. (1925–2008) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Jeweler’s Eye, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons (1968) p. 68
“History has a Nemesis for every sin—for an impotent craving after freedom, as well as for an injudicious generosity.”
Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903) said by 1903 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To gain freedom is to gain simplicity.”
Joan Miró (1893–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Merz stands for the freedom of all fetters.. .Merz also means tolerance towards any artistically motivated limitation. Every artist must be allowed to mould a picture out of nothing but blotting paper, for example, provided he is capable of moulding a picture.”
Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: 'Merz. Für den Ararat geschrieben' (1920); as quoted in Kurt Schwitters, das literarische Werk, ed. Friedhelm Lach, Dumont Cologne, 1973–1981, Vol. 5 p. 77.
“Let seed be grass, and grass turn into hay: I'm martyr to a motion not my own; What's freedom for? To know eternity. I swear she cast a shadow white as stone. But who would count eternity in days? These old bones live to learn her wanton ways: (I measure time by how a body sways.)”
Theodore Roethke (1908–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I shall offer uncompromising resistance to any measure which may throw obstacles in the way of the teaching of religion in elementary schools. I will not consent in the name of religious freedom, to banish religion from education; or, in the name of religious equality, to plunder the Church.”
Arthur Balfour (1848–1930) first seen 1848 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Election address for the 1885 general election, quoted in Blanche E. C. Dugdale, Arthur James Balfour, First Earl of Balfour, K.G., O.M., F.R.S., Etc. 1848–1905 (London: Hutchinson & Co. Ltd, 1936), p. 72
“I have never had to go back beyond the year 1885 to prove that the Irish leaders desired to obtain what they call the freedom of their country by illegal and anarchic means.”
Arthur Balfour (1848–1930) first seen 1888 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Eridge Park near Tunbridge Wells (6 August 1888), quoted in The Times (7 August 1888), p. 1.