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Free Society Quotes

Browse 279 quotes about Free Society.

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Free Society Quotes

“To finish building the free society dreamed of by Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson, we must draw upon the resources of the enlightened imagination, which can be systematically developed by the spiritual sciences of India and Tibet. We have not yet tamed our own demons of racism, nationalism, sexism, and materialism. We have not yet made peace with a land we took by force and have only partly paid for. We are a teeming conglomeration of people from different tribes who have yet to embrace fully the humanness in one another. And none of us can be really free until all of us are.”

PeopleMadeDifferentSpiritualForceImaginationSocietyLandBuildingRacismDrawsResourcesIndiaPaidEmbraceDemonNationalismEnlightenedMaterialismSexismTribesFranklinFree SocietyTibetHumannessTamed
Author:Robert Thurman
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“Freedom is messy. In free societies, people will fall through the cracks - drink too much, eat too much, buy unaffordable homes, fail to make prudent provision for health care, and much else. But the price of being relieved of all those tiresome choices by a benign paternal government is far too high. Big Government is the small option: it's the guarantee of smaller freedom, smaller homes, smaller cars, smaller opportunities, smaller lives.”

PeopleHomeBigsGovernmentCarePoliticalChoicesFallOpportunityPoliticsToo MuchFailingCarDrinkEconomicsHealth CareGuaranteesCracksProvisionMessyFree SocietyPrudentRelievedBig GovernmentBenignTiresome
Author:Mark Steyn
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“Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. Republics and limited monarchies derive their strength and vigor from a popular examination into the action of the magistrates.”

GovernmentActionSupportTakenSpeechConstitutionTyrannyRuinsRepublicFree SpeechFreedom Of SpeechPrincipalExaminationPillarsFree SocietyVigorFreedom Of The PressFree GovernmentMagistrates
Author:Benjamin Franklin
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“The draft is a monstrous violation of individual liberty, and even a good motive cannot make it otherwise. In a free society no one should be compelled to take up arms, or be forced to kill or risk being killed... But who can blame prospective volunteers from doubting that there is a threat from Iraq? The Bush administration has yet to make a persuasive argument to that effect.”

ShouldIndividualLibertyDoubtRiskEffectsArmsArgumentBlameThreatIraqAdministrationMotiveVolunteerCompelledViolationMonstrousFree SocietyPersuasiveIndividual Liberty
Author:Sheldon Richman
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“Yes, authority, coercion, and dependence rest on the mass, but never freedom or the free unfoldment of the individual, never the birth of a free society. The Socialist demagogues know that as well as I, but they maintain the myth of the virtues of the majority, because their very scheme of life means the perpetuation of power.”

KnowsWellsMeanIndividualVirtueBirthAuthorityMassMajorityMythAnarchySchemesSocialistDependenceCoercionFree SocietyLife Means
Book:Anarchism: Top Crime Collections
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“Americans and other Westerners who want their families to enjoy the blessings of life in a free society should understand that the life we've led since 1945 in the Western world is very rare in human history. Our children are unlikely to enjoy anything so placid, and may well spend their adult years in an ugly and savage world unless we decide that who and what we are is worth defending.”

WorldWantShouldYearsHumansWellsMayChildrenEnjoyBlessingAdultsOur ChildrenWesternUglySavagesUnlikelyHuman HistoryFree SocietyWestern WorldWesternersPlacid
Book:America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It
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“This freedom of movement is the very essence of our free society, setting us apart. Like the right of assembly and the right of association, it often makes all other rights meaningful-knowing, studying, arguing, exploring, conversing, observing and even thinking. Once the right to travel is curtailed, all other rights suffer, just as when curfew or home detention is placed on a person.”

ThinkingPersonsHomeLawSufferingKnowingStudyRightsMovementEssenceArguingMeaningfulSettingSettingsAssociationExploringObservingAssemblyFree SocietyDetentionCurfew
Author:William O. Douglas
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“The lesson has already been learned with alcohol prohibition. We tried to engineer an alcohol-free society and ended up with huge criminal enterprises, government corruption, children lured into organized crime and random violence that took the lives of countless innocent people.”

PeopleChildrenGovernmentViolenceCrimeHugeLessonsCorruptionAlcoholCriminalsInnocentOrganizedEnterpriseEngineersProhibitionFree SocietyCannabisGovernment CorruptionOrganized CrimeRandom Violence
Author:Kurt Schmoke
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“In short, my vision of a responsible free society is one in which we discourage evil, but do not prohibit it. We make our children and students aware of the consequences of drug abuse and other forms of irresponsible behavior. But after all our persuading, if they still want to use harmful drugs, that is their privilege. In a free society, individuals must have the right to do right or wrong, as long as they don't threaten or infringe upon the rights or property of others. They must also suffer the consequences of their actions, as it is from consequences that they learn to choose properly”

IfsWantChildrenLongStillsUseActionFormSufferingEvilIndividualFreedomLibertyVisionRightsStudentsDrugBehaviorConsequenceAbuseResponsibleOur ChildrenPropertyPrivilegeDiscouragingIrresponsibleFree SocietyPersuadingDrug Abuse
Author:Mark Skousen
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“Having confidence in a free society is to focus on the process of discovery in the marketplace of values rather than to focus on some imposed vision or goal. Using governmental force to impose a vision on others is intellectual sloth and typically results in unintended, perverse consequences. Achieving the free society requires courage to think, to talk, and to act - especially when it is easier to do nothing.”

ThinkingValuesForceProcessGoalFreedomResultsLibertyVisionFocusAchieveEasierIntellectualDiscoveryConsequenceMarketplaceFree SocietySloth
Author:Ken Schoolland
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“I think it's very dangerous for a free society to have all the information distilled and packaged by our government and given to us. Do we know to this day who we killed in Iraq? I don't think so. If bringing war into the living room means that we as a people will say we don't want to do it that way anymore we want to figure out other ways to solve these conflicts, then I would say that photography and television have done us a great service.”

PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWayWantMeanWarDoneGovernmentGivenRoomsDangerousFiguresInformationTelevisionConflictPhotographyIraqSolveThis DayLiving RoomFree SocietyGreat Service
Author:Michael Deaver
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“Anarcho-syndic alism took for granted that working people ought to control their own work, its conditions, the enterprises in which they work, along with communities, so they should be associated with one another in free associations, and democracy of that kind should be the foundational elements of a more general free society.”

PeopleShouldKindCommunityDemocracyConditionsOughtElementsGrantedEnterpriseAssociationFree SocietyTook For Granted
Author:Noam Chomsky
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