Top 100 Quotes About The Freedom Of Speech
#1. All Americans value the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press, and I believe this is essential for our continued way of life. But with this freedom comes responsibility.
Steven Hatfill
#2. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
U.S. Congress
#3. Abuses of the freedom of speech ought to be repressed, but to whom are we to commit the power of doing it?
Benjamin Franklin
#4. The freedom of speech of private individuals includes the right to not agree, not to listen, and not to finance one's own antagonists.
Ayn Rand
#5. The strength of this country lies in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights and the freedom of speech and thought.
George Soros
#6. There are tensions abroad where people don't understand our attachment to the freedom of speech, we've seen the protests, and I would say that in France all beliefs are respected.
Francois Hollande
#7. Laws protecting the United States flag do not cut away at the freedom of speech guaranteed in the First Amendment ... Congress made this position clear upon passage of the Flag Protection Act of 1989, which prohibited desecration of the flag.
Larry Craig
#8. I think that it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. I think that it is high time that we remembered that the Constitution, as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation.
Margaret Chase Smith
#9. We don't have the freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have the first amendment so we can say some very controversial things.
Ron Paul
#10. Somewhere along the line we started misinterpreting the First Amendment and this idea of the freedom of speech the amendment grants us. We are free to speak as we choose without fear of prosecution or persecution, but we are not free to speak as we choose without consequence.
Roxane Gay
#11. I grew up under Communism so we could only learn Russian, and then when Communism fell in 1989 we could learn a few more things and have the freedom to travel and the freedom of speech - and the freedom of dreaming, really.
Petra Nemcova
#12. I believe that the freedom of speech should be protected, but so should a family's right to privacy as they grieve their loss. There is a time and a place for vigorous debate on the War on Terror, but during a family's last goodbye is not it.
Dave Reichert
#13. It is within the established American tradition of satire, if America surrenders on this point, the freedom of speech is a relic of history.
Pamela Geller
#14. Every legislative limitation upon utterance, however valid, may in a particular case serve as an inroad upon the freedom of speech which the Constitution protects.
Stanley Forman Reed
#15. Confronted with such flagrant acts of intolerance - such abuses of the freedom of speech - a free society must surely do more. For intolerance is the one thing a free society cannot afford to tolerate.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
#16. The relevant part of the First Amendment here prohibits the making of any law, quote, "abridging the freedom of speech." And it's pretty well-established that speech comes in many forms.
Laura Sydell
#17. I think my first album opened a lot of doors for me to push the freedom of speech to the limit.
Eminem
#18. It was before him again in its completeness
the choice in which she was content to rest: in the stupid costliness of the food and the showy dulness of the talk, in the freedom of speech which never arrived at wit and the freedom of act which never made for romance.
Edith Wharton
#19. The Libertarian position on the freedom of speech is a strong support of freedom of speech, and we oppose government intervention in controlling what is or is not moral.
Michael Badnarik
#20. The fundamentals that founded our great nation included the freedom of speech and religion.
Markwayne Mullin
#22. The Bill of Rights was intended to secure freedom of speech - the freedom of speech of members of parliament to speak freely rather than be at threat of ... the threat of an over powerful monarch at the time.
William Hague
#23. I wish there is a world where any one can know the truth and speak there mind with freedom without having to fear for their lives (Rinko, Basara, Vol. 13)
Yumi Tamura
#24. "Freedom is fundamentally the possibility of standig on a street corner and shouting "There is no freedom here!
Yoani Sanchez
#25. Democracy, to maintain itself, must repeatedly conquer every cell and corner of the nation. How many of our public institutions and private businesses, our schools, hospitals, and domestic hearths are in reality little fascist states where freedom of speech is more rigorously excluded than vermin?
Jacques Barzun
#26. Exploring and understanding the Net is an ongoing process. Cyberspace never sits still; it evolves as fast as society itself. Only if we fight to preserve our freedom of speech on the Net will we ensure our ability to keep up with both the Net and society.
Mike Godwin
#27. He reads every book in his home but it is not enough. The country boy craves stories. He devours every poem and fable in his school and library. Still he hungers. For stories.
Jennifer Lanthier
#28. Freedom is poetry, taking liberties with words, breaking the rules of normal speech, violating common sense. Freedom is violence.
Norman O. Brown
#29. The law is agnostic about truth. It's very skeptical of ultimate truth. That's why freedom of speech permits lies to be told.
Alan Dershowitz
#30. That's the miracle of America. Freedom to believe means the freedom to believe the wrong thing, after all. Just as freedom of speech gives you the right to stay silent." The
Neil Gaiman
#31. It is the press, above all, which wages a positively fanatical and slanderous struggle, tearing down everything which can be regarded as a support of national independence, cultural elevation, and the economic independence of the nation.
Adolf Hitler
#32. when you disobey the rule, you sell your freedom. You cripple your real you. The daily direction of your life is restricted and directed by the rule and the ruling
Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
#33. The dictator says "You are allowed to think as you want" but never write it down or talk about it. If you cross these borders we cannot guarantee your security
Bangambiki Habyarimana
#34. Freedom of speech is one of the greatest American liberties, and I hope this pardon serves as a reminder of the precious freedoms we are fighting to preserve as we continue to wage the war on terror.
George Pataki
#35. It's good that the first half of the speech emphasized freedom, because George W. Bush has been the global champion for freedom. As he said, if we don't fight tyranny it will not leave us alone in peace.
Ernest Istook
#36. Let every
writer
tell his
own
lies
That's freedom
of the
press.
Norman Mailer
#37. We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way. The third is freedom from want. The fourth is freedom from fear.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
#38. No one has the right to live without being shocked.
Philip Pullman
#39. Not slaves," said Halyard, chuckling patronizingly. "Citizens, employed by government. They have same rights as other citizens - free speech, freedom of worship, the right to vote. Before the war, they worked in the Ilium Works, controlling machines, but now machines control themselves much better.
Anonymous
#40. I mean there's enormous pressures to harmonize freedom of speech legislation and transparency legislation around the world - within the E.U., between China and the United States. Which way is it going to go? It's hard to see.
Julian Assange
#41. The principle of free speech is no new doctrine born of the Constitution of the United States. It is a heritage of English-speaking peoples, which has been won by incalculable sacrifice, and which they must preserve so long as they hope to live as free men.
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
#42. Feminists often pretend to be angry and offended in order to win debates or, I should say, prevent debates from ever happening. If you can act angry and offended, especially on a college campus, you can shut down the other side using a speech code.
Mike Adams
#43. It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.
Abe Fortas
#44. Freedom of speech i can guarantee ,but freedom after speech i can't guarantee ,so watch the the type of words that comes from your mouth.
Lexis Smigz
#45. We are not going to always agree with each other, but we should have the dignity to always respect each other's freedom of speech and of choice. Democracy is practiced when we have respect for human rights.
Ellen J. Barrier
#46. After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made MY decision. By pulling my opening Oct 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment
Freedom of Speech, so therefore Me, My Song, and All My Rowdy Friends are OUT OF HERE. It's been a great run.
Hank Williams Jr.
#47. Town after town has but one newspaper or one radio station. It is often owned by Murdoch. Yes, we don't have as much freedom of the press as we think we have - although the traditional freedom of speech is strongly rooted in American culture.
Pete Seeger
#48. Their only words. You can't be afraid of words that speak the truth, even if it's an unpleasant truth.
George Carlin
#49. The most important aspect of freedom of speech is freedom to learn. All education is a continuous dialogue - questions and answers that pursue every problem on the horizon. That is the essence of academic freedom.
William O. Douglas
#50. I want to be part of the happiness team - let's create the happiness team - from love, not greed, love of life & our planet, true & free.
Jay Woodman
#51. The principle of academic freedom is designed to make sure that powers outside the university, including government and corporations, are not able to control the curriculum or intervene in extra-mural speech.
Judith Butler
#52. Resistance to change in the mental health system comes disguised as protection of civil liberties and freedom of speech. As a result, many parents, families, and caregivers are at a loss and feel defeated by the majority of Americans who strive to maintain the current rules of society.
Tamara Hill
#53. America is a country where they have freedom of speech but everyone says the same thing.
Alexis De Tocqueville
#54. Striking a balance in favor of individual rights has always been the right decision for us and that it remains so even when technology gives us new ways to exercise those rights. Individual liberty has never weakened us; freedom of speech, enhanced by the Net, will only make us stronger.
Mike Godwin
#55. In his State of the Union speech in January 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt declared America's commitment to Four Freedoms in the struggle against Nazi totalitarianism. Among them was the freedom from fear.
Robert Dallek
#56. Freedom of speech trumps political correctness. I would say our magazine would publish an anti-Semitic or Holocaust denying cartoon if it meant Jews around the world were rioting because of it and burning embassies because of a cartoon. We would want to show our readers what all the fuss was about.
Ezra Levant
#57. Our freedom of speech is freedom or death,
We got to fight the powers that be!
Chuck D
#58. In short, individual freedom of speech leads to a stronger society. But knowing that principle is not enough. You have to know how to put it to use on the Net.
Mike Godwin
#59. The dimension of cultural equity needs to be added to the humane continuum of liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and social justice.
Alan Lomax
#60. To The Veterans of the United States of America
Thank you, for the cost you paid for our freedom, thank you for the freedom to live in safety and pursue happiness, for freedom of speech (thus my book), and for all the freedoms that we daily take for granted.
Sara Niles
#61. To prosper, a zoo needs parliamentary government, democratic elections, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of association, rule of law and everything else enshrined in India's Constitution. Impossible to enjoy the animals otherwise. Long-term, bad politics is bad for business.
Yann Martel
#62. THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE, LIES WILL PUT YOU INTO PRISON
Nelson M. Lubao
#63. Freedom of speech implies the world isn't defined. It is meaningful when people are allowed to see the world their way.
Ai Weiwei
#64. Freedom rings bells to wake us from the comfort of beautiful dreams and empower the efforts that turn them into reality.
Aberjhani
#65. I have been raised to believe in freedom of thought and speech. If a minority wishes to accept that position it's their right. What I fear is that this minority may seem to be larger than it truly is. What is strange is that there are still people who believe the world is not a globe.
Richard Leakey
#66. With typical arrogance, the Anglos claimed to cherish freedom of speech but failed to recognize this right for anyone but themselves. Where did the Constitution say anything about English?
James Crawford
#67. I begin to feel like most Americans don't understand the First Amendment, don't understand the idea of freedom of speech, and don't understand that it's the responsibility of the citizen to speak out.
Roger Ebert
#68. Freedom of conscience, of education, of speech, of assembly are among the very fundamentals of democracy and all of them would be nullified should freedom of the press ever be successfully challenged.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
#69. Freedom of speech is central to most every other right that we hold dear in the United States and serves to strengthen the democracy of our great country. It is unfortunate, then, when actions occur that might be interpreted as contrary to this honored tenet.
Sam Farr
#70. So sometimes the facts are good and sometimes the facts are bad, the important thing from the point of view of a principle as broad and important as freedom of speech is that the courts articulate and set forth in a very protective way what those principles are.
Floyd Abrams
#71. We have to uphold a free press and freedom of speech
because, in the end, lies and misinformation are no match for the truth.
Barack Obama
#72. What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.
Salman Rushdie
#73. It seems that the right of freedom of speech that was enshrined in numerous constitutions is now under attack by religious institutions.
Salman Rushdie
#74. Living under the tremendous illusion that personal freedoms and freedom of speech are devoid of moral assumptions and responsibilities, we have bankrupted ourselves, so that honor, truth, and morality have been sacrificed at the altar of autonomy and self-worship.
Ravi Zacharias
#75. [H]as it really been so long since religions persecuted people, burning them as heretics, drowning them as witches, that you can't recognize religious persecution when you see it?
[1,000 Days 'Trapped Inside a Metaphor' (Columbia University / The New York Times, December 12, 1991)]
Salman Rushdie
#76. Since 2009, 140 Tibetans have immolated themselves to protest Chinese policies that limit their freedom of movement, speech and religion, especially their right to venerate the Dalai Lama.
Barbara Demick
#77. When there is liberty, you expect a higher degree of freedom and not human rights abuse.
Auliq Ice
#78. They judged me like they would judge themselves and that's what they could never understand, we are all human but we are not the same.
Nikki Rowe
#79. The censor is always quick to justify his function in terms that are protective of society. But the First Amendment, written in terms that are absolute, deprives the States of any power to pass on the value, the propriety, or the morality of a particular expression.
William O. Douglas
#80. The measure of man's ability to extend the sphere of social possibility can only start with the values of democracy.
Auliq Ice
#81. The people's silence is a tyrant's greatest advocate. The less captives talked, the less they knew; the less they knew, the more they feared; and the more they feared, the more easily others could manipulate them to their own ends, the more easily the captives could be controlled.
John Kramer
#82. You cannot take away freedom to protect it, you cannot destroy the free market to save it, and you cannot uphold freedom of speech by silencing those with whom you disagree. To take rights away to defend them or to spend your way out of debt defies common sense.
Glenn Beck
#83. There's no question about freedom of speech when everyone thinks exactly the same and no one says anything out of the accepted norms. In this kind of climate, even the mildest questions sound like heresy, and the outcome is intolerance of other people's beliefs, ideas, actions and freedoms.
Keith Harmon
#84. Balanced' is a code for 'denied': a right to free speech that must be 'balanced' against so exhaustive a list of other supposed values means a right that can be exercised only when those in power judge that the speech in question is innocuous to them.
Ronald Dworkin
#85. It condemned The Wave as a dangerous and mindless movement that suppressed freedom of speech and thought and ran against everything the country was founded on.
Todd Strasser
#86. In commendably seeking to protect freedom of speech, we must not lower our defences against the evil of racial and religious intolerance.
Barry O'Farrell
#87. 2. We must never cease to proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man which through Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Habeas Corpus, trial by jury, and the English common law find their most famous expression in the American Declaration of Independence.
Winston S. Churchill
#88. The thing I have come to find astonishing is that people from all political sides routinely say that the Internet has to be the model of free speech and freedom.
Beeban Kidron
#89. The free expression of the hopes and aspirations of a people is the greatest and only safety in a sane society.
Emma Goldman
#90. Native Americans are the original inhabitants of the land that now constitutes the United States. They have helped develop the fundamental principles of freedom of speech and separation of powers that form the foundation of the United States Government.
Joe Baca
#92. THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE WHILE LIES SHALL PUT YOU IN JAIL
Nelson M. Lubao
#93. Every person under the sound of my voice is a soldier. You are either fighting for your freedom or betraying the fight for freedom or enlisted in the army to deny somebody else freedom. - Malcom X
Maya Angelou
#94. FREEDOM OF SPEECH is the air that any thinker breathes; it's the fuel that ignites the fire of an intellectual's thoughts.
Raif Badawi
#95. Direct and easy communications - freedom of speech in all forms and its broadest sense - has become vital to the very survival of a civilized humanity.
Walt Disney Company
#96. If you're not going to use your free speech to criticize your own government, then what the hell is the point of having it?
Michel Templet
#97. Every man - in the development of his own personality - has the right to form his own beliefs and opinions. Hence, suppression of belief, opinion and expression is an affront to the dignity of man, a negation of man's essential nature.
[Toward a General Theory of the First Amendment (1963)]
Thomas I. Emerson
#98. By limiting or denying freedom of speech and expression, we take away a lot of potential. We take away thoughts and ideas before they even have the opportunity to hatch. We build a world around negatives - you can't say, think, or do this or that.
Jill McCorkle
#99. But I - and I just think it's very - one of the problems of defending the extraordinary principle of freedom of speech is that you have to defend freedom of speech for people like that too.
Salman Rushdie
#100. Every generation has to protect every one of their rights, whether that's freedom of the press, freedom of speech, or freedom of faith. You have to remain diligent.
James Lankford
