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Quotes about liberty

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Chivalry!⁠—why, maiden, she is the nurse of pure and high affection⁠—the stay of the oppressed, the redresser of grievances, the curb of the power of the tyrant⁠—Nobility were but an empty name without her, and liberty finds the best protection in her lance and her sword.
Walter Scott1771–1832Ivanhoe (1819), Chapter XXIXIn context
- Honor
All Politeness is owing to Liberty. We polish one another, and rub off our Corners and rough Sides by a sort of amicable Collision. To restrain this, is inevitably to bring a Rust upon Mens Understandings.
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury1671–1713Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711), Vol. 1, pp. 39-40; “Sensus Communis”.
- Debate
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
George Bernard Shaw1856–1950Maxims for Revolutionists (1903), #25
- Responsibility
If a nation could not prosper without the enjoyment of perfect liberty and perfect justice, there is not in the world a nation which could ever have prospered.
Adam Smith1723–1790The Wealth of Nations (1776)In context
- Justice
What do I believe? As an American I believe in generosity, in liberty, in the rights of man.
Adlai Stevenson II1900–1965Essay in This I Believe: 2 (1952) edited by Edward R. Murrow, p. 142
- America
The men of the future will yet fight their way to many a liberty that we do not even miss.
Max Stirner1806–1856The Ego and Its Own (1844), Cambridge 1995 ed., p. 114
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
Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.
Alexis de Tocqueville1805–1859
- Faith
- Morality
The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.
Alexis de Tocqueville1805–1859Democracy in America, Volume I (1835), Chapter XVII.
- America
- Christianity
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
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
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.
United States CongressThe Bill of Rights (Proposed 1789, ratified 1791), Amendment IIn context
- Freedom
- Religion
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
United States CongressThe Bill of Rights (Proposed 1789, ratified 1791), Amendment IIIn context
- Guns
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
United States CongressThe Bill of Rights (Proposed 1789, ratified 1791), Amendment IVIn context
- Justice
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
United States CongressThe Bill of Rights (Proposed 1789, ratified 1791), Amendment VIn context
- Justice