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Quotes about freedom

567 quotes from 261 people

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A man, at least, is free; he may travel over passions and over countries, overcome obstacles, taste of the most far-away pleasures. But a woman is always hampered.
Gustave Flaubert1821–1880Madame Bovary (1857), Part II, Chapter ThreeIn context
- Men
- Women
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin1706–1790This was first used by Franklin for the Pennsylvania Assembly in its “Reply to the Governor” (November 11, 1755) Reply to the Governor
- Liberty
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
Benjamin Franklin1706–1790
- Liberty
‘Tis a common observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own.
Benjamin Franklin1706–1790
- Liberty
From a persuasion that equal liberty was originally the Portion, It is still the Birthright of all men.
Benjamin Franklin1706–1790Petition from the Pennsylvania Society (1790)
- Liberty
- Slavery
If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.
Benjamin Franklin1706–1790“Apology for Printers” (1730)
- Journalism
Let me add, that only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.
Benjamin Franklin1706–1790letter to the Abbés Chalut and Arnaud (17 April 1787)
- Virtue
What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books.
Sigmund Freud1856–1939Letter to Ernest Jones (1933), as quoted in The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations (1993) by Robert Andrews, p. 779
- Reading
Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.
Milton Friedman1912–2006Capitalism and Freedom (1962), Ch. 1 The Relation Between Economic Freedom and Political Freedom, 2002 edition, page 15
- Business
- Economics
The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither. The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both.
Milton Friedman1912–2006From Created Equal, an episode of the PBS Free to Choose television series (1980, vol. 5 transcript).
In a free society, it is hard for “good” people to do “good,” but that is a small price to pay for making it hard for “evil” people to do “evil,” especially since one man’s good is another’s evil.
Milton Friedman1912–2006“The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”, The New York Times Magazine (13 September 1970)
- Good & Evil
If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom.
Robert Frost1874–1963
A non-violent soldier of freedom will covet nothing for himself, he fights only for the freedom of his country.
Mahatma Gandhi1869–1948From the Quit India speech in Bombay, on the eve of the Quit India movement (8 August 1942)
- Patriotism
I am inclined to believe that the sin of slavery is one of which it may be said that without the shedding of blood there is no remission.
James A. Garfield1831–1881Diary (8 June 1881)
- Slavery
Next in importance to freedom and justice is popular education, without which neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained.
James A. Garfield1831–1881Letter accepting the Republican nomination to run for President (12 July 1880)
- Education