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Liberty Quotes

Browse 6578 quotes about Liberty.

Liberty Quotes

“Liberty is a harsh mistress. You cannot pick and choose what you like and dislike about her. Liberty will not change her principles for you, no matter how much you claim to love her. She will stand fast in her demands for total acceptance. If you can't receive her, she will recognize you as a false lover and leave you. And when you hear that door slam, it will take every tear in your eye, every ounce of blood in your veins, and all the nerve in your heart to win her back.”

Ifs Heart Matter Eye Winning Liberty Principles Doors Blood Acceptance Tears Lovers Demand Picks Claims Nerves Dislike Harsh Veins Mistress Slam Like And Dislike Tears In Your Eyes

Author:William H. Masters

“That in all capital or criminal prosecutions a man bath a right to demand the cause and nature of his accusation, to be confronted with the accusers and witnesses, to call for evidence in his favor, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of twelve men of his vicinage, without whose unanimous consent he cannot be found guilty; nor can he be compelled to give evidence against himself; that no man be deprived of his liberty, except by the law of the land or the judgment of his peers.”

Men Giving Law Found Causes Liberty Land Demand Judgment Evidence Criminals Favors Trials Guilty Witness Twelve Peers Consent Compelled Deprived Baths Jury Accusation Prosecution Accusers

Author:George Mason

“Anarchists are extreme libertarian socialists , "libertarian" meaning the demand for freedom from prohibition, and "socialist" meaning the demand for social equality . ...Complete freedom implies equality, since if there are rich and poor, the poor cannot be permitted to take liberties with riches. Complete equality implies freedom, since those who suffer restrictions cannot be the equals of those who impose them.”

Ifs Suffering Social Poor Liberty Rich Demand Extremes Libertarian Riches Socialist Restriction Anarchism Anarchist Rich And Poor Prohibition Complete Freedom Social Equality

Book:What is Anarchism?: An Introduction

Source: What is Anarchism?: An Introduction

“The demand for liberty is a demand for power, either for possession of powers of action not already possessed or for retention and expansion of powers already possessed.”

Wisdom Action Politics Liberty Economy Demand Possession Liberalism Possessed Expansion Retention

Book:The Later Works, 1925-1953

Source: The Later Works, 1925-1953

“The good citizen will demand liberty for himself, and as a matter of pride he will see to it that others receive the liberty which he thus claims as his own. Probably the best test of true love of liberty in any country is the way in which minorities are treated in that country. Not only should there be complete liberty in matters of religion and opinion, but complete liberty for each man to lead his life as he desires, provided only that in so doing he does not wrong his neighbor.”

Men Way Should Doe Country Matter Wisdom Desire Politics Liberty Opinion Economy Pride Citizens Demand Tests Claims Neighbor Treated Liberalism Minorities Good Citizen

Author:Theodore Roosevelt

“the State only aims at instilling those qualities in its public by which its demands are obeyed, and its exchequer is filled. Its highest attainment is the reduction of mankind to clockwork. In its atmosphere all those finer and more delicate liberties, which require treatment and spacious expansion, inevitably dry up and perish. The State requires a taxpaying machine in which there is no hitch, an exchequer in which there is never a deficit, and a public, monotonous, obedient, colorless, spiritless, moving humbly like a flock of sheep along a straight high road between two walls.”

“This Administration also puts forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand... That means no more illegal wire-tapping of American citizens. No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. No more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient. That is not who we are.”

“I had to learn that there is more to the human being than material comfort, more than success, more even than national spirit or patriotism. That in any being worthy of being human there is also a demand for justice, for liberty, and that justice needs the evidence of all our lives, liberty is one and indivisible and collective, and no one can talk of justice solely for expediency's sake, nor of liberty while human beings, anywhere else on earth, are still in bondage.”

Needs Humans Stills Earth Spirit Justice Freedom Human Beings Liberty Our Lives Materials Comfort Demand Evidence Sake Worthy Collectives Being Human Bondage Indivisible Expediency

Author:Han Suyin

“We must educate ourselves and others about our precious civil liberties to ensure that we never accept demands that we give up our Constitution so that the government can pretend to protect us.”

Giving Government Liberty Accepting Protect Demand Giving Up Constitution Educate Civil Liberties

Author:Ron Paul

“The law demands good works and uses its terror--rejection, shame, fear of punishment, unanswered prayer, personal tragedy, etc.--as motivation. Here performance is a necessity to secure the blessings and avoid the curses. Grace, on the other hand, allows us to serve on a different basis--not from fear but on the basis of love and gratitude, from appreciation and gladness for blessings freely given and freely received.”

“It is not because we have been free, but because we have a right to be free, that we ought to demand freedom. Justice and liberty have neither birth nor race, youth nor age.”

Has Beens Age Individual Justice Freedom Race Responsibility Liberty Rights Youth Duty Ought Birth Honor Demand Individual Rights

Book:History of the Revolution in England in 1688: Comprising a View of the Reign of James II. from His Accession, to the Enterprise of the Prince of Orange

Source: History of the Revolution in England in 1688: Comprising a View of the Reign of James II. from His Accession, to the Enterprise of the Prince of Orange

“There cannot any one moral rule be proposed whereof a man may not justly demand a reason. Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has any right to but himself. The people cannot delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves.”

People Men May Persons Reason Government Would Be Liberty Moral Demand Property Libertarian Every Man Delegates Unlawful

Author:John Locke

“What we must remember, however, is that preservation of liberties does not depend on motives. A suppression of liberty has the same effect whether the suppressor be a reformer or an outlaw. The only protection against misguided zeal is constant alertness to infractions of the guarantees of liberty contained in our Constitution. Each surrender of liberty to the demands of the moment makes easier another, larger surrender. . .”

“The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization, though then, it is true, it had for the most part no value, since the individual was scarcely in a position to defend it. The development of civilization imposes restrictions on it, and justice demands that no one shall escape those restrictions.”

Values Individual Justice Liberty Position Development Civilization Demand Restriction

Book:Civilization and Its Discontents

Source: Civilization and Its Discontents

“I want no heaven for which I must give my reason; no happiness in exchange for my liberty, and no immortality that demands the surrender of my individuality. Better rot in the windowless tomb, to which there is no door but the red mouth of the pallid worm, than to wear the jeweled collar of a god.”

Want Giving Reason Heaven Liberty Doors Demand Mouths Red Individuality Surrender Immortality Worms Tombs Collars

Book:The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

Source: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”

“How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech.”

Men Use Freedom Liberty Demand Speech Absurd Free Speech Freedom Of Speech Freedom Of Thought Limiting Freedom Of Expression Liberty Of Speech

Book:Either/or

Source: Either/or

“Political liberty, the peace of a nation, and science itself are gifts for which Fate demands a heavy tax in blood!”

Political Literature Nations Liberty Fate Blood Demand Taxes Heavy

Author:Honore de Balzac