freedom quotes

If you love somebody, let them go. If they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were.

• 690

Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.

• 230

I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.

• 183

Defend your liberty and repel the forces that seek to take it from you.

• 173

Choice is not a form of freedom in the sense of the word; choice is the act of hesitation that occurs before making a decision.

• 158

Doing what you like is freedom, liking what you do is happiness.

• 127

Freedom is a possession of inestimable value.

• 126

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

• 115

The law will never make men free, it is men that have to make the law free.

• 67

The saving man becomes the free man.

• 60

Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.

• 51

Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.

• 47

Freedom is man's capacity to take a hand in his own development. It is our capacity to mold ourselves.

• 39

Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.

• 37

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

• 36

The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask.

• 36

Freedom is the right to live as we wish.

• 35

If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

• 34

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

• 30

If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom.

• 29

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

• 29

We, and all others who believe in freedom as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.

• 25

A forest bird never wants a cage.

• 23

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

• 22

In the last analysis, our only freedom is the freedom to discipline ourselves.

• 22

It is hard to free fools from the chains they revere.

• 20

I assess the power of a will by how much resistance, pain, torture it endures and knows how to turn to its advantage.

• 20

WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

• 20

You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.

• 19

Never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.

• 18

Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better.

• 18

Liberty is the right to choose, freedom is the result of that choice.

• 17

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.

• 17

Who then is free? The wise man who can govern himself.

• 17

Within yourself deliverance must be searched for, because each man makes his own prison.

• 16

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.

• 16

Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.

• 16

The unity of freedom has never relied on uniformity of opinion.

• 15

If you're not ready to die for it, put the word freedom out of your vocabulary.

• 14

There can be no real freedom without the freedom to fail.

• 14

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.

• 14

Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.

• 13

Racism is a refuge for the ignorant. It seeks to divide and to destroy. It is the enemy of freedom, and deserves to be met head-on and stamped out.

• 13

You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom.

• 12

He who is brave is free.

• 12

A Buddha is someone who finds freedom in good fortune and bad.

• 12

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

• 12

Man is born free, yet he is everywhere in chains.

• 11

Do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity, the Declaration of Independence.

• 10

It is not good to be too free. It is not good to have everything one wants.

• 10

Freedom is that instant between when someone tells you to do something and when you decide how to respond.

• 10

In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival.

• 9

Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of fear is a freedom.

• 9

There's something contagious about demanding freedom.

• 9

It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.

• 9

Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you.

• 9

Freedom is the last, best hope of earth.

• 9

The basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do.

• 8

Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose. Anything less is a form of slavery.

• 8

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.

• 8

Mankind has a free will; but it is free to milk cows and to build houses, nothing more.

• 8

You don't have to be a man to fight for freedom. All you have to do is to be an intelligent human being.

• 8

The true character of liberty is independence, maintained by force.

• 8

The free man is he who does not fear to go to the end of his thought.

• 8

Responsibility and respect of others and their religious beliefs are also part of freedom.

• 8

A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.

• 8

He who is conceived in a cage, yearns for the cage.

• 8

Freedom - an occupied space which must be reoccupied every day.

• 7

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.

• 7

No man is free who is not a master of himself.

• 7

All stories interest me, and some haunt me until I end up writing them. Certain themes keep coming up: justice, loyalty, violence, death, political and social issues, freedom.

• 7

Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.

• 7

Until you have lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was or what freedom really is.

• 7

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.

• 7

America is a model of force and freedom and moderation -- with all the coarseness and rudeness of its people.

• 7

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

• 7

You can only be free if I am free.

• 7

If they want to hang me, let them. And on the scaffold I will shout Freedom for the working class!

• 6

The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum.

• 6

The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom.

• 5

When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.

• 5

Of what use is freedom of speech to those who fear to offend?

• 5

Democracy arose from men's thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely.

• 5

I am involved in a freedom ride protesting the loss of the minority rights belonging to the few remaining earthbound stars. All we demanded was our right to twinkle.

• 5

Freedom is a universal value.

• 5

Freedom -- to walk free and own no superior.

• 5

We are free to yield to truth.

• 5

The secret of freedom, courage.

• 5

Freedom exists only with power.

• 5

So free we seem, so fettered we are!

• 5

He only earns his freedom and his life Who takes them every day by storm.

• 5

Books were my pass to personal freedom. I learned to read at age three, and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi.

• 5

Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you to give [life] a meaning.

• 5

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.

• 4

A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.

• 4

Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it.

• 4

Freedom is a condition of mind, and the best way to secure it is to breed it.

• 4

Freedom is just chaos with better lighting.

• 4

So far as a person thinks; they are free.

• 4

Our ideals of freedom, set forth and realized in our Constitution, are our greatest export to the world.

• 4