Famously Said Random quote

Quotes about liberty

136 quotes from 75 people

Most readBy personPage 8 of 10

A constitutional republic dedicated before everything to the protection of liberty cannot legalize torture and remain a constitutional republic. It imports into itself a tumor of pure tyranny.
Andrew Sullivanborn 1963“Torture, Moral Vanity and Freedom”, The Daily Dish (17 May 2007)
- Government
In countries and epochs in which communication is impeded, soon all other liberties wither; discussion dies by inanition, ignorance of the opinion of others becomes rampant, imposed opinions triumph.
Primo Levi1919–1987The Drowned and the Saved (1986)
- Debate
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
It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights.
George Washington1732–1799Letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island (1790)
- Religion
Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands, every where. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Speech at Edwardsville, Illinois (11 September 1858)
I never saw that great woman, Mary Wollstonecraft, but I have read her eloquent and unanswerable arguments in behalf of the liberty of womankind.
Susan B. Anthony1820–1906Speech at the 38th annual convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Baltimore (15 February 1906)
- Women
It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active.
John Philpot Curran1750–1817Speech upon the Right of Election of the Lord Mayor of Dublin (10 July 1790)
- Freedom
It is for man to establish the reign of liberty in the midst of the world of the given.
Simone de Beauvoir1908–1986The Second Sex (1949), Conclusion
Not for nothing was the revolver called an “equalizer.” Egalite implies liberte.
Edward Abbey1927–1989Abbey’s Road (1979)
- Guns
Of course, there are dangers in religious freedom and freedom of opinion. But to deny these rights is worse than dangerous, it is absolutely fatal to liberty.
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)
- Freedom
Liberty can be delayed, but it cannot be denied.
George W. Bushborn 1946Remarks to the People of Hungary (June 22, 2006)
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
Property must be secured, or liberty cannot exist.
John Adams1735–1826Discourses on Davila (1790), No. 13
Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment.
George Washington1732–1799George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796)
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865The Gettysburg Address (1863)
- America