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Quotes about liberty

136 quotes from 75 people

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‘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
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)
- Slavery
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!
Barry Goldwater1909–1998Acceptance Speech as the 1964 Republican Presidential candidate
And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents’ “interests,” I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am doing the very best I can.
Barry Goldwater1909–1998The Conscience of a Conservative (1960), p. 15
- Politics
I can think of no political right more fundamental than the right to peacefully steward the contents of one’s own consciousness.
Sam Harrisborn 1967Sam Harris, Drugs and the Meaning of Life (5 July 2011) [audio version]
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.
William Hazlitt1778–1830Political Essays (1819), “The Times Newspaper”
- Power
As for libertarian, I’ve been one all my life, a radical one. You might use the term “philosophical anarchist” or “autarchist” about me, but “libertarian” is easier to define and fits well enough.
Robert A. Heinlein1907–1988Statement to Judith Merril (1975), as quoted in William H. Patterson Jr., Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Vol. 2 (2014)
- Politics
I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Patrick Henry1736–1799Speech to the Second Virginia Convention, St. John’s Church, Richmond (23 March 1775), as given in William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (1817). Nothing was written down at the time: Wirt rebuilt the speech from listeners’ recollections four decades later, so how much of the wording is Henry’s is disputed
Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.
Patrick Henry1736–1799Speech on the Federal Constitution, Virginia Ratifying Convention (5 June 1788)
He who possesses liberty otherwise than as an aspiration possesses it soulless, dead. One of the qualities of liberty is that, as long as it is being striven after, it goes on expanding.
Henrik Ibsen1828–1906Letter to Georg Brandes (17 February 1871), as translated in Henrik Ibsen: Björnstjerne Björnson. Critical Studies (1899) by Georg Morris Cohen Brandes
What light is to the eyes, what love is to the heart, Liberty is to the soul of man. Without it, there come suffocation, degradation and death.
Robert G. Ingersoll1833–1899The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
There is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence.
Robert G. Ingersoll1833–1899The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child (1877)
- Intelligence
Wait until the world is free before you write a creed.
In this creed there will be but one word — Liberty.
Robert G. Ingersoll1833–1899The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child (1877)
- Freedom
Liberty is the condition of progress. Without Liberty, there remains only barbarism. Without Liberty, there can be no civilization.
Robert G. Ingersoll1833–1899The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
Civil liberties had their origin and must find their ultimate guaranty in the faith of the people. If that faith should be lost, five or nine men in Washington could not long supply its want.
Robert H. Jackson1892–1954Douglas v. Jeannette, 319 U.S. 157, 182 (1943)