Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [41-60] of 173 Dissent quotesDissent QuotesDissent Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels -- men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, we may never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion.~ Dwight D. Eisenhower Good men must not obey the laws too well.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Every actual state is corrupt. Good men must not obey laws too well.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson When you strike at a king, you must kill him.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson If you admit that to silence your opponent by force is to win an intellectual argument, then you admit the right to silence people by force.~ Hans Eysenck The mission of the Gestapo expanded steadily as, from 1933 onward, “political criminality” was given a much broader definition than ever before and most forms of dissent and criticism were gradually criminalized. The result was that more “laws” or lawlike measures were put on the books than ever.~ Shelia Fitzpatrick We must not overlook the role that extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent.~ Abraham Flexner Two cheers for democracy; one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism.~ E. M. Forster Dissent and dissenters have no monopoly on freedom. They must tolerate opposition. They must accept dissent from their dissent. And they must give it the respect and the latitude which they claim for themselves.~ Abe Fortas Procedure is the bone structure of a democratic society. Our scheme of law affords great latitude for dissent and opposition. It compels wide tolerance not only for their expression but also for the organization of people and forces to bring about the acceptance of the dissenter’s claim….We have alternatives to violence.~ Abe Fortas Freedom of expression is the well-spring of our civilization... The history of civilization is in considerable measure the displacement of error which once held sway as official truth by beliefs which in turn have yielded to other truths. Therefore the liberty of man to search for truth ought not to be fettered, no matter what orthodoxies he may challenge.~ Felix Frankfurter These are the days when men of all social disciplines and all political faiths seek the comfortable and the accepted; when the man of controversy is looked upon as a disturbing influence; when originality is taken to be a mark of instability; and when, in minor modification of the original parable, the bland lead the bland.~ John Kenneth Galbraith Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.~ Mahatma Mohandas K. Gandhi I love agitation and investigation and glory in defending unpopular truth against popular error.~ James A. Garfield Great authors are admirable in this respect: in every generation they make for disagreement. Through them we become aware of our differences.~ Andre Gide A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.~ Jo Godwin The freedom of speech and the freedom of the press have not been granted to the people in order that they may say things which please, and which are based upon accepted thought, but the right to say things which displease, the right to say the things which convey the new and yet unexpected thoughts, the right to say things, even though they do a wrong.~ Samuel Gompers All discussion, all debate, all dissidence tends to question and in consequence, to upset existing convictions; that is precisely its purpose and its justification.~ Judge Learned Hand Political agitation, by the passions it arouses or the convictions it engenders, may in fact stimulate men to the violation of the law. Detestation of existing politics is easily transformed into forcible resistance of the authority which puts them in execution...~ Judge Learned Hand I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.~ Robert A. Heinlein Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print