Freedom Quotes

"The greatest threat to freedom is the gradual erosion of it in the name of security."

"A nation that abandons the rule of law in pursuit of order has sacrificed liberty for the appearance of stability."

"A government that fears its people's intelligence will suppress it; a government that respects it will encourage it."

"The greatest gift a government can give its people is the opportunity to live free and pursue happiness."

"The proper condition for the growth of freedom is not in a small country, but in a larger one."

"Free men cannot be made equal by law."

"Human rights are not things that are given to you. They are things you assert for yourself."

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion."

"Self-control is the very essence of liberty."

"The person who lets the world choose his plan of life for him has no need of any other faculty than the ape-like one of imitation. He might as well dispense with the human faculty of choice."

"The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs."

"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."

"Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest."

"I regard the love of freedom as the foundation of human excellence, and the liberation of human potential as the first condition of all true progress."

"The absence of legal restrictions is a condition, but not the sum total, of freedom."

"A woman may be said to be emancipated when she is no longer compelled by others and does not compel herself."

"It is a revolting spectacle to see a whole nation held in subjection, because it suits the purposes of some despotic ruler."

"A human being can fully develop only through the exercise of freedom."

"The individual in society must yield certain rights to the collective good, but the collective good is not the highest good."

"The importance of protecting other people's liberty is the foundation of a free society."

"The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedients."

"It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free."

"The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance."

"Toleration is good for all, or it is good for none."

"The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion."

"Every law is an evil, for every law is an infraction of liberty."

"Secrecy is an instrument of conspiracy; publicity is a security for freedom."

"All rights are rooted in the right to happiness."

"Every person has the right to pursue their own happiness without infringing on others."

"A free man thinks only of equality; a slave thinks of nothing but freedom."