“The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness. Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound, and seen in every thing. It was ever present to torment me with a sense of my wretched condition. I saw nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it. It looked from every star, it smiled in every, calm, breathed in every wind, and moved in every storm.”
Source: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
“Rhysand dropped onto the couch beside me at least, loosing a breath. His eyes slid to me. 'If you want to go, then you go, Feyre.'
If I hadn't been already in love with him, I might have loved him for that- for not insisting I stay, even if it drove his instincts mad, for not locking me away in the aftermath of what had happened yesterday.
And I realised- I realised how badly I'd been treated before, if my standards had become so low. If the freedom I'd been granted felt like a privilege and not an inherent right.
Rhys's eyes darkened, and I knew he read what I thought, felt. 'You might be my mate,' he said, 'but you remain your own person. You decide your fate- your choices. Not me. You chose yesterday. You choose every day. Forever.'
And maybe he only understood because he, too, had been helpless and without choices, had been forced to do such horrible things, and locked up. I threaded my fingers through his and squeezed. Together- together we'd find our peace, our future. Together we'd fight for it.”
Source: A Court of Mist and Fury
“At a certain point, beyond all extremity, the only freedom you have left is the freedom to say ‘No’ and let them do as they will”
Source: Thirteen Storeys
“Liberty can be obtained, it cannot be regained.”
Source: The Social Contract
“My worst fear is that people will feel unheard, even if their opinions aren’t desirable. When people think of themselves as unheard, and their voices remain oppressed, they’ll speak in the only language in which all men are fluent: violence.”
Source: The Greater Good: A Novel of Divided America
“...and one day the rain would wash them away entirely, the sounds of the dead city and her memories of them, and then the Matriarch would finally be free of it—the past and its language.”
Source: The Doloriad
“Et cognoscetis veritatem et veritas liberabit vos.
(You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.)
Verse 8:32 of the Gospel of John”
“A work of art is a declaration of freedom. There has never been anything so difficult for mankind to bear as freedom.”
Source: The Letters and Diaries of Oskar Schlemmer
“Our Natural Rights -Life, Freedom, and Property- are inalienable rights that everyone in the world has and shares, and they are being attacked at every step. Most people accept it without question or any protest or resistance.”
Source: COVID19 – Short Path to 'You'll Own Nothing. And You'll Be Happy.': Welcome to the New Age of Tyranny
“The moment truth is organized it becomes a lie. Jesus and Buddha never created any organized religion. An organized religion becomes politics. It becomes a manipulation, control and exploitation by the priests. You don't have to be Christians or Buddhists, because your own potential is to be a buddha. Buddha taught you to become a buddha. The people who were with Buddha were not part of any organized religion. They were free and independent individuals. Buddha did not want to be anybody's guru, he simply wanted to be a friend, a fellow traveler on the spiritual path. He wanted to create as many individuals in the world with absolute freedom in their soul with no chains to Christianity or Buddhism and with no scriptures, no teachings, except for awareness. He taught spirituality, not religion. Spirituality is not a membership of any church or cult, but a quality that transforms your being and makes your inner potential blossom. Buddha was available to help his people to become buddhas. He wanted a world of buddhas, who were free from organized religions and cults, and who would find their own wings to fly in the sky. Truth brings freedom, freedom from religions, cults and scriptures. Truth brings a silence, a peace and a sense of eternity, and immortality and deathlessness. But it has nothing to do with organized religion and cults.”
Source: Meditation: A Love Affair with the Whole - Thousand and One Flowers of Silence, Love, Joy, Truth, Freedom, Beauty and the Divine