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Free Speech Quotes

Browse 692 quotes about Free Speech.

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Free Speech Quotes

“I know a whole generation has been raised on the notion of multiculturalism; that all civilizations are just different. No! Not always. Sometimes things are better! Rule of law is better than autocracy and theocracy; equality of the sexes, better; protection of minorities, better; free speech, better; free elections, better; free appliances with large purchases, better! Don't get so tolerant that you tolerate intolerance.”

KnowsHas BeensDifferentSometimesWholeLawSexGenerationsCivilizationSpeechElectionRaisedNotionProtectionMinoritiesIntoleranceFree SpeechTolerateMulticulturalismRule Of LawAppliancesTheocracyAutocracyFree Elections
Author:Bill Maher
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“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.”

GovernmentPoliticalPoliticsFreedomLibertyToo MuchInternetPoliticianDegreesLibertarianExposedFree SpeechFreedom Of SpeechFreedom And LibertyFreedom Of ThoughtFreedom LibertyPrivate PropertyCivil LibertiesProperty RightsLimited GovernmentWar On DrugsAttendingInconvenienceBig GovernmentRight To Bear ArmsBearing ArmsLimiting GovernmentRights And FreedomsFounding Fathers Gun2 AmendmentInalienable RightsUs ConstitutionFounding Fathers Second AmendmentAmerican LibertyFounding Fathers DemocracyGreat LibertarianPrice Of FreedomLiberty And EqualitySmall GovernmentMinor ThingsControlling GovernmentSecurity And FreedomLiberty Of SpeechSecurity And Liberty
Author:Thomas Jefferson
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“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.”

MenShouldMeanMomentsGovernmentReadingLeftPaperCapableShould HavePressesEvery ManNewspapersJournalismLatterFree SpeechFreedom Of SpeechPapersFreedom Of The PressFree PressNewspapers Journalism
Author:Thomas Jefferson
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“We are very frustrated because we have a Supreme Court that seems determined to say that the wealthier have more right to free speech than the rest of us. For example, they say you couldn't stop me from spending all the money I've saved over the last five years on Hillary's campaign if I wanted to, even though it would clearly violate the spirit of campaign finance reform.”

IfsYearsSeemsWantedLastsSpiritFiveExampleSpeechCourtDeterminedSpendingSavedCampaignsSupremeFinanceReformFive YearsFree SpeechFrustratedSupreme CourtLast Five YearsCampaign FinanceCampaign Finance Reform
Author:William J. Clinton
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“Then President [Barack] Obama went on to argue that a citizen`s Second Amendment rights can be restricted without being infringed, just like any other rights. There are limits on your free speech and on your right to privacy. But he also made another nuanced Constitutional argument, that the rights enshrined in the Second Amendment must be balanced alongside the others rights guaranteed by the Constitution.”

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Author:Melissa Harris-Perry
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“I do think if we take the power out of Washington and bring it back to the people, if we defend the Bill of Rights, free speech, religious liberty, the Second Amendment, privacy, if we repeal Obamacare, abolish the IRS, if we get Washington out of the way of job creators, I think we can transform this country.”

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Author:Ted Cruz
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“This [anti-terrorism bill] is a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech and the Fourth Amendment protection of private property... Some of these provisions place more power in the hands of law enforcement than our Founding Fathers could have dreamt and severely compromises the civil liberties of law-abiding Americans. This bill, while crafted with good intentions, is rife with constitutional infringements I could not support.”

FirstsHandsLawFatherLibertySupportSpeechBillsPropertyIntentionTerrorismProtectionCompromiseAmendmentsFourthFree SpeechLaw EnforcementEnforcementFoundingViolationProvisionFirst AmendmentAbidingGood IntentionsPrivate PropertyCivil LibertiesOur Founding FathersInfringementFourth AmendmentAnti Terrorism
Author:Butch Otter
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“I can say across Europe that many principles that have been taken for granted here around free speech, and around civil liberties and an independent judiciary, and fighting corruption, those are principles that, you know, not perfectly but generally, we have tried to apply not just in our own country but also with respect to our foreign policy.”

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Author:Barack Obama
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“When the ACLU took my case and we got a ruling I think, for the first time, they could - the Congress could put out the report internally but they couldn't put it out at taxpayers' expense around the country. And I felt odd about that because I, in a way, I was interfering with free speech, but then, you can't always win.”

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Author:Nat Hentoff
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“After [Bill Shawn] was fired, I was going to the YMHA [Young Men's Hebrew Association] on the Upper East Side to do a talk on free speech.I went into a coffee shop to get a piece of pie and a coffee, and I was reading a paper and I hear a voice. And it was -it was not a voice I was familiar with, but I looked across the table and I saw Lilian Ross.And sitting next to her was William Shawn - no tie, needed a shave. His voice was kind of coarse and rather loud. He wasn't drunk, but I was just stunned.”

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Author:Nat Hentoff
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“The state says: "Well, in order for it to be legitimate civil disobedience, you have to follow these rules." They put us in "free-speech zones"; they say you can only do it at this time, and in this way, and you can't interrupt the functioning of the government. They limit the impact that civil disobedience can achieve. We have to remember that civil disobedience must be disobedience if it's to be effective.”

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Author:Edward Snowden
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“Our Supreme Court has lifted the practice of buying legislation to the level of a constitutional principle by repeatedly protecting corporate spending for and against political candidates, as well as promises and threats of such spending to bribe and blackmail such candidates, by appeal to the free-speech clause of the First Amendment.”

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Author:Thomas Pogge
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“Cumulatively, American society is sliding toward a new form of 'authoritarian democracy'. Elections continue, free speech is generally protected, institutions operate in accordance with the Constitution, but the reality of state - society relations is dramatically altered by the counter-terrorist claims of emergency rule and the right of exception.”

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Author:Richard A. Falk
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