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Quotes about liberty

136 quotes from 75 people

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But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.
John Adams1735–1826Letter to Abigail Adams (7 July 1775)
- Freedom
Man loves liberty, even if he does not know that he loves it. He is driven by it and flees from where it does not exist.
José Martí1853–1895Martí: Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world.
James Madison1751–1836“Outline” notes (September 1829), in The Writings of James Madison (1910) by Gaillard Hunt, Vol. 9, p. 357
- America
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)
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)
Liberty is a great celestial Goddess, strong, beneficent, and austere, and she can never descend upon a nation by the shouting of crowds, nor by arguments of unbridled passion, nor by the hatred of class against class.
Annie Besant1847–1933The Political Thought of Annie Besant, p. 104
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
Must a government of necessity be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Fourth of July Address to Congress (1861)
- Government
We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Lecture on Liberty: An Address in Baltimore, Maryland (18 April 1864)
Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit are like men who are so afraid of being murdered that they commit suicide to avoid assassination.
Harry S. Truman1884–1972Address at the National Archives dedicating a shrine for the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights (15 December 1952)
- Government
The liberties of our Country, the freedom of our civil constitution are worth defending at all hazards: And it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.
Samuel Adams1722–1803Essay, written under the pseudonym “Candidus,” in The Boston Gazette (14 October 1771), later published in The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams (1865) by William Vincent Wells, p. 425
- Patriotism
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]
It would indeed be ironic if, in the name of national defense, we would sanction the subversion of one of those liberties — the freedom of association — which make the defense of our nation worthwhile.
Earl Warren1891–1974United States v. Robel, 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
- Freedom
Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Dwight D. Eisenhower1890–1969Dwight Eisenhower’s Farewell Address (1961)
- War & Peace
The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.
W. E. B. Du Bois1868–1963John Brown: A Biography (1909): “The Legacy of John Brown”