Quotessence
Home / Topics / Liberty Quotes

Liberty Quotes

Browse 6578 quotes about Liberty.

Related topics

MenGovernmentLibertarianPeopleFreedomLibertarianismIfsLawRightsStatesIndividualPoliticalWorldCountryHumansMayShouldThinkingAmericaPoliticsEconomicGivingNationsMeanConstitutionReligiousCivil LibertiesJusticeWarEconomicsBelieveWantHas BeensFreedom And LibertyCitizensDemocracyKnowsPropertyDoeSecurityWayLongPrinciplesFirstsTyrannyVirtueWellsMindPersonsForceIndividual LibertyMadeOrderReasonEndsNeedsIdeasMoralFreedom LibertyOpinionReligious LibertyHandsProtectSelfUnitedUseSlaveryFormHeartValuesOughtSocialRevolutionTwoConscienceSlaveCausesFactsSpiritAuthorityMatterTodayFightingStillsUnited StatesCommonInterestGivenWould BeChildrenDutyEarthEvilIndependenceResponsibilitySoulSpeechImportantInstitutionsLittlesmore

Liberty Quotes

“I think that there’s going to be a rush to judgment on civil liberties, and a clamping down, a suspension of our democratic rights. And I believe that those who are good Americans would want to see this not happen and that we debate how to find a balance between the public safety and the protection of civil liberties.”

ThinkingWantBelieveHappensI BelieveLibertyRightsBalanceCivilizationJudgmentSafetyDemocraticProtectionDebateCivil LibertiesSuspensionPublic SafetyDemocratic Rights
Author:Barbara Lee
Create image

“But it is recognized that punishment for the abuse of the liberty accorded to the press is essential to the protection of the public, and that the common law rules that subject the libeler to responsibility for the public offense, as well as for the private injury, are not abolished by the protection extended in our constitutions. The law of criminal libel rests upon that secure foundation. There is also the conceded authority of courts to punish for contempt when publications directly tend to prevent the proper discharge of judicial functions.”

WellsLawCommonResponsibilityLibertySubjectsEssentialsAuthorityAbuseFunctionConstitutionFoundationCourtPressesProtectionCriminalsPunishmentSecureInjuryContemptOffensePublicationJudicialDischargeLibelConcededCommon Law
Author:Charles Evans Hughes
Create image

“As the liberal sees it, the task of the state consists solely and exclusively in guaranteeing the protection of life, health, liberty, and private property against violent attacks. Everything that goes beyond this is an evil. A government that, instead of fulfilling its task, sought to go so far as actually to infringe on personal security of life and health, freedom, and property would, of course, be altogether bad.”

StatesGovernmentCoursesEvilLibertySecurityTasksPropertyProtectionViolentFulfillingPrivate PropertyPersonal Security
Book:Liberalism: The Classical Tradition: The Economist
Create image

“The democratic ideal springs from the ideas of liberty, equality, majority rule through free elections, protection of the rights of minorities, and freedom to subscribe to multiple loyalties in matters of religion, economics, and politics rather than to a total loyalty to the state. The spirit of democracy is the idea of importance and worth in the individual, and faith in the kind of world where the individual can achieve as much of his potential as possible.”

WorldKindIdeasMatterStatesSpiritIndividualLibertyDemocracyRightsAchieveSpringIdealsEconomicsImportanceElectionMajorityDemocraticProtectionLoyaltyMinoritiesMultipleRules For RadicalsMajority RuleFree ElectionsDemocratic Ideals
Book:Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals
Create image

“The Statue of Liberty means everything. We take it for granted today. We take it for granted. Remember the Statue of Liberty stands for what America is. We as Democrats have to remind ourselves and remind the country the great principles we stand for. This is a place of protection. This is not a country of bullies. We are not an empire. We are the light. We are the Statue of Liberty.”

MeanCountryLightTodayAmericaRememberLibertyPrinciplesDemocratProtectionGrantedEmpiresBullyStatuesStatue Of Liberty
Author:Jerry Springer
Create image

“Despite our founding principles and the many ways our constitution has protected individual liberties, we do, let's admit it, have a long history of shutting people out--african americans, women, gays and lesbians, people with disabilities--and throughout our history, we have found too many ways to divide and exclude people from their ownership of the law and protection under the law.”

PeopleWayLongLawFoundIndividualLibertyPrinciplesGayConstitutionProtectionDespiteAfrican AmericanDividesDisabilityProtectedOwnershipFoundingIndividual LibertyPeople With Disabilities
Author:Hillary Clinton
Create image

“The people of America are in agreement in defending their liberties at any cost, and the first line of that defense lies in the protection of economic security.”

PeopleFirstsAmericaLyingLinesLibertyEconomicSecurityCostProtectionDefenseAgreementEconomic Security
Book:Fireside chats of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: radio addresses to the American people about the Depression, the New Deal, and the Second World War, 1933-1944
Create image

“The value of science to a republican people, the security it gives to liberty by enlightening the minds of its citizens, the protection it affords against foreign power, the virtue it inculcates, the just emulation of the distinction it confers on nations foremost in it; in short, its identification with power, morals, order and happiness (which merits to it premiums of encouragement rather than repressive taxes), are considerations [that should] always [be] present and [bear] with their just weight.”

PeopleGivingShouldMindValuesOrderNationsLibertyMoralVirtueSecurityBearsCitizensRepublicanTaxesWeightEncouragementProtectionMeritDistinctionConsiderationEnlighteningIdentificationEmulation
Book:Public and private papers
Create image

“And may I not be allowed to ... read in the character of the American people, in their devotion to true liberty and to the Constitution which is its palladium [protection], ... a Government which watches over ... the equal interdict [prohibition] against encroachments and compacts between religion and the state.”

PeopleMayStatesCharacterGovernmentLibertyWatchesAtheismEqualConstitutionPositive AtheismProtectionDevotionProhibitionEncroachment
Author:James Madison
Create image

“In my judgment the people of no nation can lose their liberty so long as a Bill of Rights like ours survives and its basic purposes are conscientiously interpreted, enforced and respected so as to afford continuous protection against old, as well as new, devices and practices which might thwart those purposes. I fear to see the consequences of the Court's practice of substituting its own concepts of decency and fundamental justice for the language of the Bill of Rights as its point of departure in interpreting and enforcing that Bill of Rights.”

PeopleWellsLongMightLawPurposeLanguageNationsLosesJusticeLibertyPracticeRightsJudgmentConceptsConsequenceConstitutionFundamentalsBillsCourtProtectionDevicesDecencyDepartureBill Of RightsInterpreting
Author:Hugo Black
Create image

“Though the island of Great Britain exhibits but a small spot upon the map of the globe, it makes a splendid appearance in the history of mankind, and for a long space has been signally under the protection of God and a seat of peace, liberty and truth.”

LongHas BeensSpaceLibertyMankindAppearanceProtectionSpotsIslandsSeatsBritainMapsGlobesSplendidExhibitsGreat Britain
Book:The Works of the Rev. J. Newton ...: With the Memoirs of the Author and General Remarks on His Life, Connections, and Character
Create image

“The legislatures will have better means of information. They can discover the danger at a distance; and possessing all the organs of civil power, and the confidence of the people, they can at once adopt a regular plan of opposition, in which they can combine all the resources of the community. They can readily communicate with each other in the different States, and unite their common forces for the protection of their common liberty.”

PeopleMeanDifferentStatesForceCommunityCommonLibertyPlansInformationDangerResourcesDistanceCommunicateProtectionOppositionOrgansLegislaturePossessing
Book:The Federalist Papers: A Collection of Essays Written in Favour of the New Constitution
Create image

“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. . .”

DoeMomentsRememberLibertyEffectsDependsEasierDemandConstitutionConstantProtectionSurrenderMotiveGuaranteesPreservationZealSuppressionOutlawMisguidedReformersAlertness
Author:William O. Douglas
Create image

“Liberty is of small value to the lower third of humanity. They greatly prefer security, which means protection by some class above them. They are always in favor of despots who promise to feed them. The only liberty an inferior man really cherishes is the liberty to quit work, stretch out in the sun, and scratch himself.”

MenMeanValuesHumanityLibertyClassSunSecurityPromiseThirdsProtectionFavorsQuittingCherishInferiorsScratchesDespots
Book:Minority Report
Create image

“A democratic Europe of nation states could be a force for liberty, enterprise and open trade. But, if creating a United States of Europe overrides these goals, the new Europe will be one of subsidy and protection”

IfsStatesForceNationsGoalUnitedLibertyUnited StatesCreatingEuropeTradeDemocraticProtectionEnterpriseSubsidies
Book:As I said to Denis--: the Margaret Thatcher book of quotations
Create image

“Anyone who believes in the natural and inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is obliged to accept that individuals have the right to buy and sell alcohol. That's why all the regulations that people take for granted-the restrictions on hours of operation, the ban on Sunday sales, the minimum distance from schools and churches, the minimum age, and the protection of local wineries from competition by wineries in other states-are illegitimate.”

PeopleBelieveStatesAgeSchoolIndividualHoursNaturalChurchLibertyAcceptingRightsSellsDistanceCompetitionProtectionAlcoholPursuitLocalsGrantedOperationsSundayRegulationMinimumObligedRestrictionPursuit Of HappinessBansInalienable RightsLife Liberty And The Pursuit Of HappinessRights To Life
Author:Sheldon Richman
Create image

“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
Create image