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Freedom
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“Freedom. Freedom is at the core of universal human values. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom in where to live, and the freedoms to strike, to demonstrate, and to protest, among others, are the forms that freedom takes. Without freedom, China will always remain far from civilized ideals.”
Liu Xiaobo (1955–2017) said by 2017 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no way to sort-of compartmentalise human liberty into "okay, I have social liberty and I have economic freedom." No, they're the same thing. You have— If you don't have economic freedom, you don't have personal liberty, and vice versa, if you don't have personal liberty, you don't have economic freedom, either.”
Glenn Jacobs (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Whose liberty? Liberty for what purpose? Liberty of the Citizens' Alliance to arm thugs to shoot defenseless strikers in the back? Liberty of promoters of spurious stocks to fleece widows and orphans? Liberty of millionaires to escape taxation? Liberty to make slaves of workers and serfs of farmers? These are the individual liberties that these people mean.”
Floyd B. Olson (1891–1936) first seen 1934 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Answering Republican charges that the Farmer-Labor Party's 1934 platform was a threat to individual liberty
“Excess of liberty contradicts itself. In short, there is no such thing; there is only liberty for one and restraint for another. If liberty then be regarded as a social ideal, the problem of establishing liberty must be a problem of organizing restraints; and thus the conception of a liberty which is to set an entire people free from its government appears to be a self-contradictory ideal.”
Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse (1864–1929) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Social Evolution and Political Theory (1911), p. 190.
“Freedom of mind is the real freedom. A person whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave, not a free man. One whose mind is not free, though he may not be in prison, is a prisoner and not a free man. One whose mind is not free though alive, is no better than dead. Freedom of mind is the proof of one's existence.”
B. R. Ambedkar (1891–1956) said by 1956 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Hayek’s essential political philosophy was that liberty is the supremacy of law. To some, this may appear a paradoxical conception of liberty, for liberty is too often considered to be the absence of law.This, however, was the exact opposite of Hayek’s view. He thought that liberty is not possible without law. Right law is liberty.”
Alan O. Ebenstein (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“America is not a democracy. We are not fighting for democracy. We fight for liberty. America not only fights for its own survival, for its own liberty, but also for liberty abroad. Human dignity can never be preserved without liberty. Liberty is therefore a real good, a precious good worth while to be redeemed by blood.”
Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn (1909–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A man who belongs to some communist or revolutionary society wills certain concrete ends, which imply the will to freedom, and that freedom is willed in community. We will freedom for freedom's sake, and in and through the particular circumstances. And in thus willing freedom, we discover that it depends entirely upon the freedom of others and that the freedom of others depends upon our own.”
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Government creates the market and law. Law is not the negation of liberty; it is its fulfillment. Right law is not a restriction on people’s liberty; it makes their freedom possible. Right law is liberty; liberty is right law.”
Alan O. Ebenstein (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These people who want freedom, who want our youths to be free, write effusively about the freedom of our youth. What freedom do they want? ... They want the gambling casinos to remain freely open, they want heroin addicts to be free, opium addicts to be free. They want the seas to be free everywhere for the youth [i.e. mixed bathing].”
Ruhollah Khomeini (1900–1989) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Excerpted from "Speech at Feyziyeh Theological School" (August 24, 1979). English translation in Barry Rubin and Judith Colp Rubin, Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp…
“I am a Canadian, a free Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship God in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.”
John Diefenbaker (1895–1979) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: July 1, 1960. From the Canadian Bill of Rights.
“Political liberty is not easily come by in the twentieth century and, indeed, is under challenge. It may quickly be lost if men do not understand and insist that political liberty means individual liberty, that freedom means freedom for man as well as men, and that human dignity means the dignity of self.”
Edgar George Holt (1904–1988) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Libertarianism and the Free Man", Australian Liberal (September 1960), supplement, p. 3. Quoted by Bridget Griffen-Foley, "A 'Civilised Amateur': Edgar Holt and His Life in Letters and Politics", Australian Journal of P…
“The guarantees of civil liberty are but guarantees of freedom of the human mind and spirit and of reasonable freedom and opportunity to express them...The very essence of the liberty which they guarantee is the freedom of the individual from compulsion as to what he shall think and what he shall say...”
Harlan F. Stone (1872–1946) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586, 604 (1940).
“In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.”
Edward Gibbon (misattributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not the fact of liberty but the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives. When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered.”
Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Record", Ladies Home Journal (May 1958)
“Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of the government. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it.”
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at New York Press Club (9 September 1912), in The papers of Woodrow Wilson, 25:124
“He was free, free in every way, free to behave like a fool or a machine, free to accept, free to refuse, free to equivocate; to marry, to give up the game, to drag this death weight about with him for years to come. He could do what he liked, no one had the right to advise him, there would be for him no Good or Evil unless he thought them into being.”
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: L'âge de raison (The Age of Reason) (1945)
“It is business. ...The gospel is free, but the medium through which the gospel is spread is not free. The gospel is free but the Bible is for sale. The word of God is free, salvation is free to all; however, the Bible has to be bought. If it comes as a free app on a phone…you [still] have to buy a phone.”
Diana Hamilton (musician) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...we were brainwashed into believing... that the only important thing was individualism. They called it freedom. There is no such thing as freedom. There is something called liberty; it's quite different. ...read [Guido de] Ruggiero's History of European Liberalism... Freedom is freedom from restraints. We're always under restraints.”
Carroll Quigley (1910–1977) said by 1977 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This young century will be liberty's century. By promoting liberty abroad, we will build a safer world. By encouraging liberty at home, we will build a more hopeful America. Like generations before us, we have a calling from beyond the stars to stand for freedom. This is the everlasting dream of America.”
George W. Bush (born 1946) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Acceptance speech at Republic National Convention (September 2, 2004)
“The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims. Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence, not skin color, gender, or ethnicity.”
Ron Paul (born 1935) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Government and Racism" (18 April 2007).
“The two greatest things that all men aim at in any free government are liberty and permanency. We have had liberty enough - too much perhaps in some respects - but at all events, liberty to our hearts content.”
Thomas D'Arcy McGee (1825–1868) first seen 1865 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Legislative Assembly, February 9, 1865
“Freedom is the very essence of our economy and society. Without freedom the human mind is prevented from unleashing its creative force. But what is also clear is that this freedom does not stand alone. It is freedom in responsibility and freedom to exercise responsibility.”
Angela Merkel (born 1954) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel before a joint session of Congress on November 04, 2009.
“If it doesn't take senators and congressmen and presidential proclamations to give freedom to the white man, it is not necessary for legislation or proclamation or Supreme Court decisions to give freedom to the Black man. You let that white man know, if this is a country of freedom, let it be a country of freedom; and if it's not a country of freedom, change it.”
Malcolm X (1925–1965) said by 1965 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don't like. Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If you're in favor of freedom of speech, that means you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise.”
Noam Chomsky (born 1928) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is more than one kind of freedom, said Aunt Lydia. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it.”
Margaret Atwood (born 1939) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This in short is the case of the progressives who talk about freedom of thought. For them freedom of thought is synonymous to freedom of disowning one's God. This is, however, not freedom of thought but freedom of atheism.”
Muhammad Qutb (1919–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I never said money is freedom! I said money buys freedom. BUYS! What does that mean, money is freedom? This is ridiculous: Money is freedom. It means nothing. What do you think, that a dollar in a savings account is freedom? Maybe you have understood nothing I have said. You are trying to make me sound like an American average citizen.”
Klaus Kinski (1926–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My young friends, you are soldiers in the battle of freedom- a freedom from want,a freedom from fear,a freedom from ignorance,a freedom from frustration and helplessness....By dint of hard work for the country, rendered in a spirit of selfless service may you march ahead with hope and courage...Remember in this dynamic world you must go forward or else you will be left behind...”
Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom to vote is more important than economic freedom or national freedom more important than freedom from racism and in this instance, national freedom as more important than gender equality”
Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To freedom as “non-interference”, the famous “freedom from” of the liberal philosophical tradition, we must add freedom as “non-domination”, “freedom to”, that effective freedom that allows everyone to participate in “public affairs” without suffering the consequences of intolerable discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, skin colour or religious belief.”
Michela Marzano (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As oxymoronic as it sounds, the capacity to oppress is an inescapable dimension of American freedom. Think “freedom to enslave” or “freedom to take land.” Intellectuals need to understand that, however shadowy, the freedom to oppress is part of the package of American freedom.”
Jefferson Cowie (born 1963) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 2022
“A strong America is the world’s best hope for peace and freedom. Yet the cause of freedom rests on more than our ability to defend ourselves and our allies. Freedom is exported every day, as we ship goods and products that improve the lives of millions of people. Free trade brings greater political and personal freedom.”
George W. Bush (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Like liberals, anarchists want freedom; like socialists, anarchists want equality. But we are not satisfied by liberalism alone or by socialism alone. Freedom without equality means that the poor and the weak are less free than the rich and strong, and equality without freedom means that we are all slaves together. Freedom and equality are not contradictory, but complementary.”
Nicolas Walter (1934–2000) first seen 1969 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About Anarchism (1969), p. 163
“Liberty of the press, liberty of speech, freedom of religion, or rather freedom from religion, and the unlimited right of private judgement have borne no good fruit, and many bad ones.”
George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But Germans are not interested in freedom as the English understand it. When they say freedom, they do not mean the liberty of the individual to do what he likes within the limits imposed by the written and unwritten law, but the liberty of the nation to do what it pleases in defiance of international law.”
Frederick Augustus Voigt (1892–1957) said by 1957 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To stop using the word "free" now would be a mistake; we need more, not less, talk about freedom. If those using the term "open source" draw more users into our community, that is a contribution, but the rest of us will have to work even harder to bring the issue of freedom to those users' attention. We have to say, "It's free software and it gives you freedom!" — more and louder than ever before.”
Richard Stallman (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Free inquiry entails recognition of civil liberties as integral to its pursuit, that is, a free press, freedom of communication, the right to organize opposition parties and to join voluntary associations, and freedom to cultivate and publish the fruits of scientific, philosophical, artistic, literary, moral and religious freedom.”
Paul Kurtz (1925–2012) first seen 1983 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Paul Kurtz (1983) In defense of secular humanism, p. 15
“The basic freedom of the world is woman's freedom. A free race cannot be born of slave mothers. A woman enchained cannot choose but give a measure of that bondage to her sons and daughters. No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.”
Margaret Sanger (1879–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Without a free press there can be no free society. That is axiomatic. However, freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to the end of a free society. The scope and nature of the constitutional guarantee of the freedom of the press are to be viewed and applied in that light.”
Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: New York Times (November 28, 1954).
“What is the internally free man free from? First of all - he or she is free from fear of people and life; from conventional opinion. He or she is independent from the crowd, from stereotypical thinking. He or she is able to have their own personal point of view; free from prejudices. He or she is free from envy, selfishness and from aggressive personal drives.”
Simon Soloveychik (1930–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The problem of free speech in, both in society in general and on campus in particular, is everyone will say "I believe in free speech, but." The problem is everyone has a different "But!" exemption that they would put on free speech. So the issue really becomes, who has the power to enforce their exemptions to free speech while keeping absolute free speech for themselves?”
Alan Charles Kors (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We work really hard to make sure these products are designed the most environmentally friendly manner. They're arsenic free display glass, mercury free displays, BFR free, PBC free and yes, Android free.”
Phil Schiller (born 1960) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Phil Schiller says iPhone 5C is "Android free". Technolique (2013)
“This 'liberty' is not a series of isolated points pricked out in terms of the taking of property; the freedom of speech, press, and religion; the right to keep and bear arms; the freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures; and so on. It is a rational continuum which, broadly speaking, includes a freedom from all substantial arbitrary impositions and purposeless restraints.”
John Marshall Harlan II (1899–1971) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Poe v. Ullman, 367 U.S. 497, 522 (1961).
“In the images of celebrating Iraqis we have also seen the ageless appeal of human freedom. Decades of lies and intimidation could not make the Iraqi people love their oppressors or desire their own enslavement. Men and women in every culture need liberty like they need food and water and air. Everywhere that freedom arrives, humanity rejoices and everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear.”
George W. Bush (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The shrine is vowed to freedom, but, my friend, Freedom is but a means to gain an end. Freedom should build the temple, but the shrine Be consecrate to thought still more divine. The human bliss which angel hopes foresaw Is liberty to comprehend the law. Give, then, thy book a larger scope and frame, Comprising means and end in Truth's great name.”
Margaret Fuller (1810–1850) said by 1850 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That is why we must speak out for freedom, wherever it may be threatened. Violence may be infectious, but freedom and courage are also infectious. The big test of American liberty will come in the let-down after the war. If we do not now learn the habits of speaking out for freedom and fighting for it, we will make poor defenders when we are confronted by the big battalions.”
Max Lerner (1902–1992) first seen 1943 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speak Out For Freedom," first published 21 October 1943, p. 126
“There's often a "freedom from" that is the flip side of "freedom to." Isaiah Berlin wrote about this in his famous essay, "Two Concepts of Liberty." In an age when the word "freedom" is so abused, its double-edged nature is important to remember.”
Jen Sorensen (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The aim of the ancients was the sharing of social power among the citizens of the same fatherland: this is what they called liberty. The aim of the moderns is the enjoyment of liberty in private pleasures, and they call “liberty” the guarantees accorded by institutions to these pleasures.”
Benjamin Constant (1767–1830) first seen 1819 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Liberty of Ancients Compared with that of Moderns" (1819)
“This- this- is liberty! genuine British liberty!- This instant about two thousand liberty boys are swearing and swaggering by with large sticks”
Ignatius Sancho (1729–1780) first seen 1780 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (from vol 2, letter 67: 6 Jun 1780, to J___ S___ esq).