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Liberty Quotes

Browse 6578 quotes about Liberty.

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Liberty Quotes

“Have you ever found in history, one single example of a nation, thoroughly corrupted, that was afterwards restored to virtue? And without virtue there can be no political liberty.”

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Book:The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations
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“I believe in a wall between church and state so high that no one can climb over it. When religion controls government, political liberty dies; and when government controls religion, religious liberty perishes. Every American has the constitutional right not to be taxed or have his tax money expended for the establishment of religion. For too long the issue of government aid to church related organizations has been a divisive force in our society and in the Congress. It has erected communication barriers among our religions and fostered intolerance.”

BelieveLongHas BeensStatesGovernmentPoliticalDiesForceI BelieveChurchReligiousLibertyIssuesAtheismCommunicationWallTaxesOrganizationCongressI Believe InAidsRelatedClimbsOur SocietyBarriersOver ItEstablishmentIntoleranceChurch And StateReligious LibertyGovernment Aid
Author:Sam Ervin
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“Let us hear the dangers of thralldom to our consciences from ignorance, extreme poverty, and dependence; in short, from civil and political slavery. Let us see delineated before us the true map of man. Let us hear the dignity of his nature, and the noble rank he holds among the works of God-that consenting to slavery is a sacrilegious breach of trust, as offensive in the sight of God as it is derogatory from our own honor or interest or happiness-and that God Almighty has promulgated from heaven liberty, peace, and goodwill to man!”

MenPoliticalHeavenPeaceInterestLibertyPovertyDangerIgnoranceHonorConscienceDignitySightSlaveryExtremesNobleMapsAlmightyOffensiveDependenceGoodwillBreachExtreme PovertyDerogatorySacrilegiousBreach Of Trust
Author:John Adams
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“I think the idea of freedom or liberty is really misused for political reasons, but it's something that resonates with people to the core. People want to be masters of their own destinies, but at the same time, I think they do so selectively. Sometimes they want to be told exactly what to do so they don't have to think for themselves - as long as they can still exercise their free will.”

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Author:Shepard Fairey
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“What threatens civilization today is not war, but the changing conception of life values entailed by certain political doctrines. Only by recapturing the dream of human freedom and restoring the importance of the common man's liberties can that undermining threat to modern civilization be averted”

MenHumansWarDreamTodayPoliticalCertainValuesCommonLibertyModernCivilizationImportanceThreatDoctrineConceptionCommon ManRestoringHuman FreedomUnderminingModern Civilization
Author:Lin Yutang
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“While dwelling with pleasing satisfaction upon the superior excellence of our political institutions, let us not be unmindful that liberty is power; that the nation blessed with the largest portion of liberty must in proportion to its numbers be the most powerful nation upon earth, and that the tenure of power by man is, in the moral purposes of his Creator, upon condition that it shall be exercised to ends of beneficence, to improve the condition of himself and his fellow men.”

MenEndsEarthPoliticalPurposeNationsPowerfulNumbersLibertyMoralConditionsFellowsInstitutionsBlessedExcellenceSatisfactionCreatorSuperiorsProportionMost PowerfulPortionsFellow ManDwellingTenureBeneficencePolitical Institutions
Book:John Quincy Adams and American continental empire: letters, papers and speeches
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“The domestic NSA-led Surveillance State which Frank Church so stridently warned about has obviously come to fruition. The way to avoid its grip is simply to acquiesce to the nation's most powerful factions, to obediently remain within the permitted boundaries of political discourse and activism. Accepting that bargain enables one to maintain the delusion of freedom - "he who does not move does not notice his chains," observed Rosa Luxemburg - but the true measure of political liberty is whether one is free to make a different choice.”

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Author:Glenn Greenwald
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“To the Calvinists, more than to any other class of men, the political liberties of Holland, England, and America are due.”

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Book:History of the United Netherlands, from the Death of William the Silent to the Synod of Dort: With a Full View of the English-Dutch Struggle Against Spain, and of the Origin and Destruction of the Spanish Armada
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“I see the liberty of the individual not only as a great moral good in itself (or, with Lord Acton, as the highest political good), but also as the necessary condition for the flowering of all the other goods that mankind cherishes: moral virtue, civilization, the arts and sciences, economic prosperity.”

ArtPoliticalIndividualLibertyMoralLordVirtueEconomicConditionsMankindCivilizationHighestProsperityGoodsCherishArt And ScienceFloweringMoral VirtuesEconomic Prosperity
Book:Salutary neglect
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“This is the deadening consensus that crosses party lines, that dominates our major media, and that is strangling the liberty and prosperity that were once the birthright of Americans. Dissenters who tell their fellow citizens what is really going on are subject to smear campaigns that, like clockwork, are aimed at the political heretic. Truth is treason in the empire of lies.”

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Author:Ron Paul
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“He who confuses political liberty with freedom and political equality with similarity has never thought for five minutes about either.”

PoliticalLibertyFiveMinutesFive MinutesSimilarityPolitical Equality
Book:George Bernard Shaw: Collected Articles, Lectures, Essays and Letters: Thoughts and Studies from the Renowned Dramaturge and Author of Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Pygmalion, Arms and The Man, Saint Joan, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion
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“Americans' liberty is perishing beneath the constant growth of government power. Federal, state and local government's are confiscating citizens' property, trampling their rights, and decimating their opportunities more than ever before.... American liberty can still be rescued from the encroachments of government. The first step to saving our liberty is to realize how much we have already lost, how we lost it, and how we will continue to lose unless fundamental political changes occur.”

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Author:James Bovard
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“Thomas Jefferson understood the greater purpose of the liberty that our Founding Fathers sought during the creation of our Nation. Although it was against the British that the colonists fought for political rights, the true source of the rights of man was clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson wrote that all humans are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights . . . . It was self-evident to him that denying these rights was wrong and that he and others must struggle to win what was theirs.”

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Author:William J. Clinton
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“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.”

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Author:Thomas Jefferson
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“All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”

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Author:Thomas Jefferson
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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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“The foundations of liberty are private property and the rule of law; this system guarantees the fewest possible forms of injustice, produces the greatest material and cultural progress, most effectively stems violence and provides the greatest respect for human rights. According to this concept of liberalism, freedom is a single, unified concept. Political and economic liberties are as inseparable as the two sides of a medal.”

HumansTwoFormLawPoliticalSidesLibertyRightsProgressViolenceEconomicProduceMaterialsConceptsFoundationPropertyInjusticeHuman RightsLiberalismGuaranteesStemMedalRule Of LawInseparableTwo SidesPrivate PropertyUnified
Author:Mario Vargas Llosa
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“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

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Author:Lord Acton
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“Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.”

MeanEndsWisdomPoliticalPoliticsFreedomLibertyHigherPoliticianHighestCapitalismLibertarianFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyPrivate PropertyProperty RightsLimited GovernmentFree GovernmentLibertarian PartyAbsolute PowerPolitical FreedomRoad To SerfdomAbsolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
Book:The History of Freedom: Great Event
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“That great political idea, sanctifying freedom and consecrating it to God, teaching men to treasure the liberties of others as their own and to defend them for the love of justice and charity more than as a claim of right, has been the soul of what is great and good in the progress of the last two hundred years.”

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Book:The History of Freedom: Great Event
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“Building on the public's unwillingness to act on principle in support of market solutions to apparent problems, whether real or imagined, these interest groups secure arbitrary restrictions on voluntary exchanges and, in the process, secure rents for their members while reducing both the liberties and economic well being of other members of the economic nexus, both domestically and internationally.”

WellsRealPhilosophyProblemPoliticalProcessInterestLibertyPrinciplesSupportGroupsEconomicBuildingMembersSolutionsSecureWell BeingClassicArbitraryRestrictionPolitical PhilosophyReducingInterest GroupsNexus
Author:James M. Buchanan
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“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

InspirationalWarGovernmentPoliticalPoliticsPeacePresidentFreedomLibertyStruggleViolenceImpossibleRevolutionWise WordsPoliticianViolentResistancePeacefulInevitablePresidentialRevolutionaryThoughtfulProtestRebellionFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyProperty RightsAmerican RevolutionMaking PeacePeace WarPeace And JusticeCoexistenceIndustrial RevolutionPeace JusticeMilitarismMake Peace Not WarRevolutionary WarAchieving PeaceActs Of ViolencePeaceful CoexistenceSocial RevolutionBreaking SilenceViolence And PeacePeaceful ProtestViolence And WarChange Is InevitablePolitical RevolutionGovernment And PoliticsPolitical StruggleGovernment PoliticsProfiles In CouragePolitical ViolencePeaceful RevolutionViolent RevolutionInevitable DeathRevolutionary LeadersPeaceful Country
Author:John F. Kennedy
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“The GDP approach doesn't address many aspects of human life: health, education, political liberty, religious liberty, employment opportunities. And these are not all that well correlated with gross domestic product. We also have to think about equality among groups. And freedom of speech and religion. China always ranks near the top of developing countries these days, but there are lots of things we might see as lacking in China.”

ThinkingHumansWellsCountryMightPoliticalOpportunityReligiousLibertyGroupsProductsSpeechApproachAspectChinaEmploymentDevelopingThese DaysHuman LifeAddressesFreedom Of SpeechLackingGrossGdpReligious LibertyDeveloping CountriesGross Domestic ProductHealth EducationEmployment Opportunities
Author:Martha C. Nussbaum
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“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

PoliticalPoliticsGivenFreedomLibertyBirthIndependenceCivil RightsOppressionJailOppressed4th Of JulyFreedom And LibertyFreedom Of ThoughtFreedom LibertyOppressorsCivil LibertiesFreedom Of ChoiceBirminghamAmerica FreedomFighting For FreedomIndependence And FreedomDirect ActionAmerican FreedomKings And LoveGood KingsUltimate FreedomJustice Denied
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.”

RealityMotivationalLawPoliticalOrderIndividualCommunityLibertyAcceptingBreakAcceptanceWillingKingsHighestRespectConscienceInjusticeLibertarianActivismAfrican AmericanProtestPenaltiesUnjustDissentDisobedienceCivil DisobedienceImprisonmentPeace And JusticeIndividual RightsPeace JusticeLibertarian PartyEquality And JusticeLiberty And JusticeDignity And RespectGood KingsJustice And InjusticeUnjust LawsJustice EqualityUnjust War
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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