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Freedom Of Thought Quotes

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Freedom Of Thought Quotes

“If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all — except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors. For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.”

IfsKnowsMenNeedsShouldWellsBookIdeasFactsReadingStrongNationsLibertyDestinyWiseRightsAchieveSecurityCriticismBillsLibraryWelcomeAlternativesNew IdeasOur DestinyGuardianGood BookControversialBeing WiseFreedom Of ThoughtBill Of RightsPublic LibraryLibraries And LibrariansCensoredCensorship In BooksReading More
Author:John F. Kennedy
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“Without Freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom;and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.”

WisdomPoliticalFreedomLibertySpeechPatrioticFree SpeechFreedom Of SpeechFreedom And LibertyFreedom Of ThoughtFreedom LibertyAmerican LibertyLimiting Freedom Of ExpressionFreedom To ReadLiberty Of Speech
Book:Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: new annotated edition
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“You know, there are two good things in life, freedom of thought and freedom of action. In France you get freedom of action: you can do what you like and nobody bothers, but you must think like everybody else. In Germany you must do what everybody else does, but you may think as you choose. They're both very good things. I personally prefer freedom of thought. But in England you get neither: you're ground down by convention. You can't think as you like and you can't act as you like. That's because it's a democratic nation. I expect America's worse.”

ThinkingKnowsMayDoeTwoActionAmericaNationsCan DoEnglandGood ThingsDemocraticVery GoodFranceBotherGermanyConventionsYou ChooseThings In LifeFreedom Of ThoughtGood Things In Life
Author:W. Somerset Maugham
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“I have always strenuously supported the right of every man to his own opinion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it.”

MenDifferentMightChangeDifferencesFreedomOpinionSupportRightsMinesSlaveEqualityDenyEvery ManChanging The WorldFreedom Of SpeechSkepticismEqual RightsMaking ChangesOpen MindedFreedom Of ThoughtBeing DifferentAge Of ReasonIndividual Differences
Book:The Thomas Paine Collection: Common Sense, Rights of Man, Age of Reason, An Essay on Dream, Biblical Blasphemy, Examination Of The Prophecies
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“The regime had understood that one person leaving her house while asking herself: Are my trousers long enough?' Is my veil in place?' Can my make-up be seen?' Are they going to whip me?' No longer asks herself: Where is my freedom of thought?' Where is my freedom of speech?' My life, is it livable?' What's going on in the political prisons?”

PersonsLongEnoughPoliticalLife IsAsksHouseSpeechUnderstoodAskingPrisonLeavingRegimesFreedom Of SpeechVeilsWhipsFreedom Of ThoughtTrousersThat One Person
Author:Marjane Satrapi
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“The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.”

ReligionFatherJesusReligiousBrainLibertyChristianityHistoryGenerationsAtheismJesus ChristAtheistSeparationSupremeUnited States Of AmericaMysticalVirginsFoundingWombChurch And StateSeparation Of Church And StateFreedom Of ThoughtIntriguingFablesOur Founding FathersReligious FreedomReligious BeliefFounding Fathers ChristianOrganized ReligionUs Founding FathersFounding Fathers ReligionSeparation Between Church And StateFounding Fathers ReligiousFreedom Of ReligionInfidelReligion GodReligious LibertyJupiterFounding Fathers Anti ReligionFounding Fathers Of AmericaFounding AmericaTheistAmerican Founding FathersFounding Fathers AtheistSupreme BeingDeismChristianity From Founding FathersChristian AtheistReligion ChristianChristian FatherAnti ChristianChristian RightAgainst ReligionFaith ReligionChristian TheologyChristian GodDeistGreatest AtheistVirgin BirthMinervaChristian Freedom
Book:Jefferson: Writings
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“It is vain to fight totalitarianism by adopting totalitarian methods. Freedom can only be won by men unconditionally committed to the principles of freedom. The first requisite for a better social order is the return to unrestricted freedom of thought and speech.”

MenFirstsOrderFightingSocialPrinciplesReturnSpeechMethodCommittedVainTotalitarianismFreedom Of ThoughtAdoptingSocial Order
Book:Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War
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“A public-school system, if it means the providing of free education for those who desire it, is a noteworthy and beneficent achievement of modern times; but when once it becomes monopolistic it is the most perfect instrument for tyranny which has yet been devised. Freedom of thought in the middle ages was combated by the Inquisition, but the modern method is far more effective.’ (1923)”

IfsMeanAgeSchoolDesirePerfectModernMiddleAchievementMethodInstrumentsTyrannyProvidingPublic SchoolMiddle AgesFreedom Of ThoughtInquisitionSchool SystemModern TimesFree Education
Book:Christianity and Liberalism
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“Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.”

ThinkingMenLifeLawFatherFreedomMy OwnTeacherStrengthLet MeTradeIndianObedienceNativeSubmitNative AmericanFreedom Of SpeechPenaltiesFreedom Of ThoughtFree ManAmerican IndianGreat AmericanBeing FreeNative American WisdomFreedom Of ReligionGreat SpiritNative AmericaNative American IndianGreat Native AmericanNative American EarthIndian WisdomNative WisdomAmerican SpiritNative American Indian InspirationalNative American SpiritualAmerican FreedomLaw Abiding CitizenNative American DreamSpiritual Indian
Author:Chief Joseph
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“Cultural speciation had been crippling to human moral and spiritual growth. It had hindered freedom of thought, limited our thinking, imprisoned us in the cultures into which we had been born. . . . These cultural mind prisons. . . . Cultural speciation was clearly a barrier to world peace. So long as we continued to attach more importance to our own narrow group membership than to the ‘global village’ we would propagate prejudice and ignorance.”

ThinkingWorldMindHumansLongSpiritualCultureGrowthBornMoralGroupsIgnoranceImportancePrejudicePrisonBarriersSpiritual GrowthVillageFreedom Of ThoughtMembershipGlobal VillageSpeciation
Author:Jane Goodall
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“Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech; which is the right of every man as far as by it he does not hurt or control the right of another; and this is the only check it ought to suffer and the only bounds it ought to know.... Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freedom of speech, a thing terrible to traitors.”

KnowsMenDoeWisdomSufferingNationsHurtFreedomLibertyOughtTerribleSpeechBoundsEvery ManChecksFreedom Of SpeechFreedom Of ThoughtTraitorLiberty Of Speech
Book:The Real Benjamin Franklin
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“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”

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Author:William O. Douglas
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“If mankind is to profit freely from the small and sporadic crop of the heroically gifted it produces, it will have to cultivate the delicate art of handling ideas. Psychology is now able to tell us with reasonable assurance that the most influential obstacle to freedom of thought and to new ideas is fear; and fear which can with inimitable art disguise itself as caution, or sanity, or reasoned skepticism, or on occasion even as courage.”

IfsArtIdeasReasonAbleFreedomPsychologyInfluenceMankindProduceHeroProfitObstaclesOccasionsReasonableSanityDelicateSkepticismNew IdeasDisguiseGiftedAssuranceCautionCropsInfluentialFreedom Of ThoughtSporadic
Author:Wilfred Trotter
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“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

BeliefCommunityPracticeTeachingWorshipConscienceManifestScience And ReligionFreedom Of ThoughtObservanceDeclaration Of Human Rights
Book:Eleanor and Harry: The Correspondence of Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman
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“From a comparative perspective, the United States is unusual if not unique in the lack of restraints on freedom of expression. It is also unusual in the range and effectiveness of methods employed to restrain freedom of thought... Where the voice of the people is heard, elite groups must insure their voice says the right things.”

PeopleIfsStatesVoiceUnitedLibertyUnited StatesHeardGroupsExpressionPerspectiveUniqueMethodRangeRight ThingUnusualElitesRestraintEmployedEffectivenessFreedom Of ThoughtFreedom Of Expression
Author:Noam Chomsky
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“Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism, are all too frequently those who . . . ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism-the right to criticize, the right to hold unpopular beliefs, the right to protest, the right of independent thought.”

AmericaBeliefPrinciplesRightsCriticismIndependentProtestCriticizeFreedom Of SpeechDisobedienceShoutingFreedom Of ThoughtBasicsBasic PrinciplesIndependent ThoughtCriticiseAmericanism
Book:Declaration of conscience
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“First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end. The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought.”

ThinkingFirstsEndsGovernmentLawDangerSpeechJustifyCensorshipAmendmentsProtectedFree SpeechFreedom Of SpeechFirst AmendmentFreedom Of ThoughtAmendment 1Freedom To Read
Author:Anthony Kennedy
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“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

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Book:The Virginia Report of 1799-1800: Touching the Alien and Sedition Laws; Together with the Virginia Resolutions of December 21, 1798, Including the Debate and Proceedings Thereon in the House of Delegates of Virginia and Other Documents Illustrative of the Report and Resolutions
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“The real stumbling-block of totalitarian regimes is not the spiritual need of men for freedom of thought; it is men's inability to stand the physical and nervous strain of a permanent state of excitement, except during a few years of their youth.”

MenNeedsYearsRealStatesSpiritualYouthBlockNervousPermanentExcitementRegimesStrainInabilityFreedom Of ThoughtStumblingStumbling BlocksTotalitarian Regimes
Book:Selected Essays, 1934-1943: Historical, Political, and Moral Writings
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“If any man has drunk a little too deeply from the cup of physical pleasure; if he has spent too much time at his desk that should have been spent asleep; if his fine spirits have become temporarily dulled; if he finds the air too damp, the minutes too slow, and the atmosphere too heavy to withstand; if he is obsessed by a fixed idea which bars him from any freedom of thought: if he is any of these poor creatures, we say, let him be given a good pint of amber-flavored chocolate... and marvels will be performed.”

IfsMenShouldLittlesHas BeensIdeasSpiritGivenPleasurePoorToo MuchAirMinutesFoodFineCreaturesShould HaveCookingHeavyBarsDrunkCupsAtmosphereFixedObsessedCulinaryChocolateDesksShould Have BeenFreedom Of ThoughtAmberDampPintsSweets And DessertsChocolate Bars
Book:The Physiology of Taste: or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy
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“The mere word freedom is the only one that still excites me. I deem it capable of indefinitely sustaining the old human fanaticism. It doubtless satisfies my only legitimate aspiration. Among all the many misfortunes to which we are heir, it is only fair to admit that we are allowed the greatest degree of freedom of thought. It is up to us not to misuse it. To reduce the imagination to a state of slavery-even though it would mean the elimination of what is commonly called happiness-is to betray all sense of absolute justice within oneself.”

HumansMeanStillsStatesImaginationJusticeDegreesCapableFairsAbsolutesSlaveryMereOneselfAspirationMisfortunesBetrayFanaticismFreedom Of ThoughtHeirsEliminationSustainingMisuse
Author:Andre Breton
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“The more people come together, the more borders will be opened and people and opinions get together, the more unrenouncable tolerance will be a fundamental part of our social life. Without tolerance there is no religious liberty, no freedom of conscience and no freedom of thought.”

PeopleTogetherSocialReligiousLibertyOpinionConscienceFundamentalsToleranceBordersFreedom Of ThoughtSocial LifeGet TogetherReligious LibertyReligious Tolerance
Author:Thomas Klestil
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“I had a right to my own political opinions. I am a Southern woman, born with Revolutionary blood in my veins. Freedom of speech and of thought were my birthright, guaranteed, signed and sealed by the blood of our fathers.”

WarPoliticalFatherBornFreedomMy OwnOpinionRightsBloodRevolutionSpeechHuman RightsRevolutionaryCivil WarSouthernFreedom Of SpeechVeinsSpyOur FatherFreedom Of ThoughtBirthrightFamous WomenPolitical OpinionsSouthern Women
Author:Rose O'Neal Greenhow
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“In our democratic society, the library stands for hope, for learning, for progress, for literacy, for self-improvement and for civic engagement. The library is a symbol of opportunity, citizenship, equality, freedom of speech and freedom of thought, and hence, is a symbol for democracy itself.”

SelfOpportunityDemocracyProgressSpeechSelf ImprovementDemocraticLibraryImprovementSymbolsEngagementFreedom Of SpeechCitizenshipLiteracyCivicsFreedom Of ThoughtDemocratic SocietyCivic Engagement
Author:Vartan Gregorian
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“Human society is born in the shadow of religious fear, and in that stage the suppression of heresy is a sacred social duty. Then comes the rise of a priesthood, and the independent thinker is met with punishment in this world and the threat of eternal damnation hereafter. Even today it is from the religious side that the greatest danger to freedom of thought comes. Religion is the last thing that man will civilise.”

MenWorldHumansTodayLastsSocialSidesBornReligiousStageDangerThis WorldDutyMetsEternalShadowIndependentSacredThreatPunishmentThinkerHeresyHereafterFreedom Of ThoughtHuman SocietySuppressionPriesthoodDamnation
Author:Chapman Cohen
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“Intellectual freedom is essential -- freedom to obtain and distribute information, freedom for open-minded and unfearing debate and freedom from pressure by officialdom and prejudices. Such freedom of thought is the only guarantee against an infection of people by mass myths, which, in the hands of treacherous hypocrites and demagogues, can be transformed into bloody dictatorship.”

PeopleHandsPoliticalFreedomInformationEssentialsMassIntellectualPrejudicePressureMythDebatePropagandaGuaranteesTransformedDictatorshipBloodyPhysicistHypocriteOpen MindedFreedom Of ThoughtInfectionTreacherousDissidentsDemagogueryIntellectual FreedomAccess To InformationDemagogy
Book:Progress, coexistence, and intellectual freedom
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“We will not be led like sheep to the slaughter.”

PresidentFreedomLibertyTakenSilentPresidentialPatrioticHolocaustSheepFree SpeechFreedom Of SpeechFreedom And LibertySlaughterFreedom Of ThoughtFreedom LibertyCivil LibertiesOur Founding FathersUs Founding FathersFounding Fathers Of AmericaAmerican Founding FathersUs PresidentPresidents DayGreat PresidentsAmerica FreedomFighting For FreedomLimiting Freedom Of ExpressionUs PresidentialInspiring PresidentialPatriotism And FreedomLiberty Of Speech
Author:Abba Kovner
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