Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [141-160] of 173 Dissent quotesDissent QuotesDissent Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes The religious quality of Marxism also explains a characteristic attitude of the orthodox Marxist toward opponents. To him, as to any believer in a faith, the opponent is not merely in error but in sin. Dissent is unapproved of not only intellectually but also morally.~ Joseph A. Schumpeter Every great historic change has been based on nonconformity, has been bought either with the blood or with the reputation of nonconformists.~ Ben Shahn The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact than a drunken man is happier than a sober one.~ George Bernard Shaw Heretics were often most bitterly persecuted for their least deviation from accepted belief. It was precisely their obstinacy about trifles that irritated the righteous to madness. Why can they not yield on so trifling a matter?~ Leo Shestov Liberty is the possibility of doubting, the possibility of making a mistake, the possibility of searching and experimenting, the possibility of saying “No” to any authority -- literary, artistic, philosophic, religious, social and even political.~ Ignazio Silone We can have justice whenever those who have not been injured by injustice are as outraged by it as those who have been.~ Solon The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie. One word of truth outweighs the world.~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn One of the most pathetic — and dangerous — signs of our times is the growing number of individuals and groups who believe that no one can possibly disagree with them for any honest reason.~ Thomas Sowell The right to defy an unconstitutional statute is basic in our scheme. Even when an ordinance requires a permit to make a speech, to deliver a sermon, to picket, to parade, or to assemble, it need not be honored when it’s invalid on its face.~ Justice Potter Stewart [A] function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve it’s high purpose when it indices a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with things as they are, or even stirs people to anger. Speech is often provocative and challenging. It may strike at prejudices and preconceptions and have profound unsettling effects as it presses for understanding.~ Justice Potter Stewart For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.~ The Holy Bible A good argument diluted to avoid criticism is not nearly as good as the undiluted argument, because we best arrive at truth through a process of honest and vigorous debate. Arguments should not sneak around in disguise, as if dissent were somehow sinister… For it is bravery that is required to secure freedom.~ Justice Clarence Thomas Dissent... is a right essential to any concept of the dignity and freedom of the individual; it is essential to the search for truth in a world wherein no authority is infallible.~ Norman Thomas As for adopting the ways which the state has provided for remedying the evil, I know not of such ways. They take too much time, and a man's life will be gone.~ Henry David Thoreau If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible.~ Henry David Thoreau If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.~ Henry David Thoreau Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?~ Henry David Thoreau Others -- as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders -- serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few -- as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men -- serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part ...~ Henry David Thoreau Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.~ Harry S. Truman The world acquires value only through its extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent.~ Paul Valéry Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print