“Let me start with Yahoo. As we meet today, a Chinese citizen who had the courage to speak his mind on the Internet is in prison because Yahoo chose to share his name and address with the Chinese Government.” MindGovernmentTodayNamesSpeakShareInternetCitizensLet MePrisonChineseAddressesChinese Government Author:Tom Lantos
“When a social movement adopts the compromises of legislators, it has forgotten its role, which is to push and challenge the politicians, not fall in meekly behind them. We who protest...are not politicians. We are citizens. Whatever politicians may do, let them first feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not for what is winnable, in a shamefully timorous Congress.” FeelsFirstsMayFallSpeakForceSocialChallengesBehindsRolesMovementCitizensPoliticianForgottenCongressCompromiseProtestLegislatorsSocial Movements Author:Howard Zinn
“When a person tries to act in accordance with his conscience, when he tries to speak the truth, when he tries to behave like a citizen, even in conditions where citizenship is degraded, it won't necessarily lead anywhere, but it might. There's one thing, however, that will never lead anywhere, and that is speculating that such behavior will lead somewhere.” TryingPersonsMightSpeakOne ThingConditionsCitizensBehaviorConscienceBehaveCitizenshipSpeak The Truth Author:Vaclav Havel
“We must speak first about the division of land and about those who cultivate it: who should they be and what kind of person? We do not agree with those who have said that property should be communally owned, but we do believe that there should be a friendly arrangement for its common use, and that none of the citizens should be without means of support.” ShouldFirstsBelieveKindMeanPersonsSaidUseWisdomPoliticsSpeakCommonSupportEconomyLandCitizensAgreePropertyLiberalismFriendlyDivisionArrangements Author:Aristotle
“It must be all the same to the citizens ("ressortissants", Fr.) of a country that their governing (those in power) speak such language or such other ("telle langue ou telle autre", Fr.); likewise that it must be all the same to them that these adhere to such or such religion, so long as a full (or complete) liberty is equally garantee for everyone.” LongCountrySpeakLanguageLibertyCitizensGoverning Author:African Spir
“Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.” WayMayDifferentSoulHelpingGovernmentAmericaLawSpeakNationsGoalVoiceStyleCitizensTraditionInstitutionsProtectionHelping OthersAriseChosenMinoritiesCustomsUnwillingRule Of LawCustoms And Traditions Author:George W. Bush
“Scientists habitually moan that the public doesn't understand them. But they complain too much: public ignorance isn't peculiar to science. It's sad if some citizens can't tell a proton from a protein. But it's equally sad if they're ignorant of their nation's history, can't speak a second language, or can't find Venezuela or Syria on a map.” IfsSpeakLanguageNationsToo MuchIgnoranceCitizensScientistComplainingIgnorantMapsPeculiarSyriaProteinVenezuelaProton Author:Martin Rees
“President Bush broke the law and lied to the American people when he unilaterally authorized secret wiretaps of U.S. citizens. But rather than focus on this constitutional crisis, Attorney General Gonzales is cracking down on critics of his friend and boss. Our nation is strengthened, not weakened, by those whistle-blowers who are courageous enough to speak out on violations of the law.” PeopleEnoughLawSpeakNationsPresidentSecretFocusCitizensCrisisCriticsBrokeCourageousBossLiedViolationPresident BushAttorneySpeaks Out Author:Anthony Romero
“To speak impartially, both sayings are very true: that man to man is a kind of God; and that man to man is an arrant wolf. The first is true, if we compare citizens amongst themselves; and the second, if we compare cities.” IfsMenFirstsKindGovernmentSpeakCitiesCitizensCompareVery True Book:Man and Citizen: De Homine and De Cive Source: Man and Citizen: De Homine and De Cive
“Our American past always speaks to us with two voices: the voice of the past, and the voice of the present. We are always asking two quite different questions. Historians reading the words of John Winthrop usually ask, What did they mean to him? Citizens ask, What do they mean to us? Historians are trained to seek the original meaning; all of us want to know the present meaning.” KnowsWantMeanTwoDifferentWisdomAmericaPastReadingAsksSpeakVoiceKnowledgeCreativityHistoryCitizensAskingOriginalsQuittingHistorianMonarchy Author:Daniel J. Boorstin
“We welcome the National Rifle Association here to Indianapolis. It's tens of thousands of freedom loving Americans. I was grateful to be able to speak to them and interact with them and I really do believe that the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms makes our communities more safe, not less safe.” BelieveAbleLawSpeakCommunityArmsBearsCitizensSafeGratefulWelcomeAssociationAbidingOur CommunityRiflesLaw Abiding CitizenIndianapolis Author:Mike Pence
“I'd known that the visit would be highly scripted and that genuine interactions with citizens wouldn't be possible, since it's illegal for them to speak with foreigners. Still, I'd thought I'd had a unique look at North Korea, only to discover I was wrong.” LooksStillsWould BeSpeakKnownCitizensUniqueGenuineIllegalInteractionKoreaForeignersNorth Korea Author:Adam Johnson
“Naturally, grown-up citizens are concerned about the beatniks and delinquents. ... The question is why the grownups do not, more soberly, draw the same conclusions as the youth. Or, since no doubt many people are quite clear about the connection that the structure of society that has becoming increasingly dominant in our country is disastrous to the growth of excellence and manliness, why don't more people speak up and say so?” PeopleCountrySpeakGrowthClearDoubtYouthBecomingCitizensDrawsConcernedConnectionsStructureExcellenceConclusionOur CountryNo DoubtDominantGrownupsManlinessDelinquentsBeatnik Author:Paul Goodman
“Obama wanted to offer his support to birth control activist Sandra Fluke. He wanted to express his disappointment that she has been the subject of inappropriate personal attacks and thank her for exercising her rights as a citizen to speak out on an issue of public policy.” Has BeensWantedSpeakSupportIssuesRightsSubjectsPolicyBirthCitizensExerciseOffersDisappointmentActivistSpeaks OutInappropriateBirth ControlPublic PolicyFlukesPersonal Attacks Author:Jay Carney
“We speak for all citizens of the Commonwealth when we say that society can draw great hope for the future because of the example which these young people are giving by their creative and constructive responses to the challenges which confront our communities and dedication to help those most in need.” PeopleNeedsGivingHelpingYoungSpeakCommunityChallengesCreativeExampleCitizensDrawsResponseDedicationConstructiveOur CommunityCommonwealthHope For The FutureGreat Hope Author:William Weld
“The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. We can speak any language we want at the dinner table, but English is the language of public discourse, or the marketplace and of the voting booth.” WantPoliticalSpeakLanguageShareIdentityCitizensTablesDinnerCoreVotingTicketsParticipationDiscourseMarketplacePolitical LifeDinner TablePublic Discourse Author:S. I. Hayakawa
“Kinship among nations is not determined in such measurements as proximity of size and age. Rather we should turn to those inner things - call them what you will - I mean those intangibles that are the real treasures free men possess. To preserve his freedom of worship, his equality before law, his liberty to speak and act as he sees fit, subject only to provisions that he trespass not upon similar rights of others - a Londoner will fight. So will a citizen of Abilene. When we consider these things, then the valley of the Thames draws closer to the farms of Kansas and the plains of Texas.” MenShouldMeanRealAgeLawTurnsFightingSpeakNationsLibertyRightsSubjectsCitizensFitWorshipDrawsSizeDeterminedTreasurePreservesTexasFarmsValleysProvisionMeasurementFree ManKansasKinshipProximityThamesLondoners Author:Dwight D. Eisenhower
“To become an American citizen, we require people to read, write and speak in English. That is to help them to assimilate in our melting pot, truly to become Americans. We mock that when the cherished right to vote does not involve English any more.” PeopleWritingDoeHelpingSpeakCitizensVotePotMeltingMockAmerican CitizensRight To VoteMelting Pot Author:Ernest Istook
“I don't speak out because I am an actor nor will I keep silent because I am an actor. I respect my profession, but it endows me with no special privileges; but it also does not limit me or muzzle me. I am a person and a citizen with the attendant responsibilities of voice and vote.” PersonsDoeActorsSpeakVoiceResponsibilitySpecialCitizensLimitsVoteSilentPrivilegeProfessionSpeaks OutMuzzle Author:Theodore Bikel
“We're looking at a president [Barack Obama] who's engaged in double-speak where he doesn't call radical Islamic terrorism by its name. Indeed, he gives a speech after the San Bernardino attack where his approach is to try to go after the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens rather than to keep us safe.” GivingTryingLawNamesSpeakPresidentRightsCitizensSafeSpeechApproachTerrorismRadicalBarackEngagedIslamicAbidingPresident Barack ObamaConstitutional RightsIslamic TerrorismLaw Abiding Citizen Author:Ted Cruz
“Oil is dead, on its way to extinction. As a group of citizens we must speak up and act towards ending fracking. Let your government know you will not tolerate a technology that not only poisons your family but our creature family at large; let them know you want sustainable power and all the jobs that will come with that new growth.” KnowsWayWantGovernmentJobsSpeakGrowthTechnologyGroupsCitizensCreaturesOilOur FamilyPoisonTolerateExtinctionFrackingNew Growth Author:Ian Somerhalder
“And what terrifies me is that we're entering a phase where if you start to speak about this as something that can be understood historically - without any sympathy - you are going to be thought of as unpatriotic, and you are going to be forbidden. It's very dangerous. It is precisely incumbent on every citizen to quite understand the world we're living in and the history we are a part of and we are forming as a superpower.” IfsWorldSpeakDangerousCitizensUnderstoodPhasesEnteringForbiddenSuperpowerIncumbentsUnpatriotic Author:Edward Said
“If you do not learn English in this country, you cannot get anywhere. We are in America. We are not in Mexico, we are not in China, we are not in Saudi Arabia - we speak English in this country! And what bilingual education does, is keep them from learning English, so they are doomed to be second-class citizens.” IfsDoeCountryAmericaSpeakClassCitizensChinaMexicoDoomedArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudisSpeak EnglishSecond Class CitizensLearning English Author:Rafael Cruz
“I speak as a private citizen and not as a representative of the Executive Branch of the United States government. The impression that people of faith are uniformly opposed to stem-cell research is not documented by surveys. In fact, many people of strong religious conviction think this can be a morally supportable approach.” PeopleThinkingStatesFactsGovernmentSpeakStrongReligiousUnitedUnited StatesCitizensApproachResearchConvictionImpressionCellsBranchesExecutivesRepresentativesStemSurveysState GovernmentStem CellUnited States GovernmentStem Cell ResearchExecutive Branch Author:Richard Dawkins
“I think it's very important to be able to hear from our public leaders in ways that they can't entirely orchestrate, seeing them speak live and unscripted and take questions that they themselves haven't arranged ahead of time. I think this is a way in which citizens who are deciding what they think of their leaders who govern in their name, this is one of the ways in which they can evaluate how they feel about the quality of the leadership.” ThinkingWayFeelsImportantAbleNamesSpeakQualityLeaderSeeingHavensCitizensEvaluateAhead Of Time Author:David Folkenflik
“I love Scotland and I speak about it a lot, so people think I'm desperate to go back. They just take it upon themselves to say I'm going back, but I'm not. I'd rather concentrate on becoming a citizen of the world.” PeopleThinkingWorldSpeakBecomingCitizensDesperateScotland Author:Billy Connolly
“When we speak of the origin of western democracy it's precisely here, in this territory that the modern definition of democracy first emerged in city/states known now as Greece. This was coming from a society in which 30 thousand citizens had rights and 300 thousand were slaves and citizens without rights that lived in this territory. So that was the concept of western democracy; some citizens had the prerogative of exerting their civil and political rights while the others had none.” FirstsStatesPoliticalSpeakCitiesKnownDemocracyRightsModernCitizensThousandConceptsSlaveWesternDefinitionsTerritoryGreecePrerogativePolitical Rights Author:Alejandro Castro Espin
“The Muslim contribution to the future of America is to not only speak out as Muslims, but to also speak out as citizens in the name of our common values. Our main contribution is to reconcile the American society with its own values, those that are not in contradiction to Islam. We have a duty of consistency.” AmericaValuesNamesSpeakCommonDutyCitizensIslamContributionContradictionConsistencyReconcileSpeaks OutAmerican SocietyFuture Of America Author:Tariq Ramadan
“I talk to the young generation and advise them to be both fully Muslim and fully Western citizens, to be free, to speak out, to express themselves. We have new generations of Muslims who were born in the West, coming from within, and they are well educated and they understand. Some sisters and brothers are ready, yes, even though I can see young sisters and brothers who are also obsessed with their social status, their titles, their salary and are scared to not be tolerated.” WellsI CanYoungSpeakSocialBornGenerationsReadyBrotherCitizensWestWesternScaredEducatedTitlesObsessedBrothers And SistersSalaryAdviseNew GenerationSpeaks OutWell EducatedSocial StatusYoung Generation Author:Tariq Ramadan
“I begin to feel like I was in the last generation of Americans who took a civics class. I begin to feel like most Americans don't understand the First Amendment, don't understand the idea of freedom of speech, and don't understand that it's the responsibility of the citizen to speak out.” FeelsFirstsIdeasLastsSpeakResponsibilityClassGenerationsCitizensSpeechAmendmentsFreedom Of SpeechFirst AmendmentCivicsSpeaks Out Author:Roger Ebert