Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [301-320] of 502 Speech quotesSpeech QuotesSpeech Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes The problem of freedom in America is that of maintaining a competition of ideas, and you do not achieve that by silencing one brand of idea.~ Max Lerner Political correctness is the natural continuum from the party line. What we are seeing once again is a self-appointed group of vigilantes imposing their views on others.~ Doris Lessing With a library you are free, not confined by temporary political climates. It is the most democratic of institutions because no one – but no one at all – can tell you what to read and when and how.~ Doris Lessing The burning of an author’s books, imprisonment for opinion’s sake, has always been the tribute that an ignorant age pays to the genius of its time.~ Joseph Lewis Every compulsion is put upon writers to become safe, polite, obedient, and sterile. In protest, I declined election to the National Institute of Arts and Letters some years ago, and now I must decline the Pulitzer Prize.~ Sinclair Lewis Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.~ A. J. Liebling It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.~ Abraham Lincoln What you do speaks so loud I cannot hear what you say.~ Abraham Lincoln A radical is one who speaks the truth.~ Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr. There are men – now in power in this country – who do not respect dissent, who cannot cope with turmoil, and who believe that the people of America are ready to support repression as long as it is done with a quiet voice and a business suit.~ John V. Lindsay Without some form of censorship, propaganda in the strict sense of the word is impossible. In order to conduct propaganda there must be some barrier between the public and the event.~ Walter Lippmann A free press is not a privilege but an organic necessity in a great society.~ Walter Lippmann The American’s conviction that he must be able to look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell is the very essence of the free man’s way of life.~ Walter Lippmann When men are brought face to face with their opponents, forced to listen and learn and mend their ideas, they cease to be children and savages and begin to live like civilized men. Then only is freedom a reality, when men may voice their opinions because they must examine their opinions.~ Walter Lippmann We must protect the right of our opponents to speak because we must hear what they have to say.~ Walter Lippmann While the right to talk may be the beginning of freedom, the necessity of listening is what makes the right important.~ Walter Lippmann Without criticism and reliable and intelligent reporting, the government cannot govern.~ Walter Lippmann And I honor the man who is willing to sink Half his present repute for the freedom to think And, when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak Will risk t’ other half for the freedom to speak.~ James Russell Lowell And I honor the man who is willing to sink half his present repute for the freedom to think, and, when he has thought, be his cause strong or weak, Will risk t' other half for the freedom to speak.~ James Russell Lowell Civil libertarians must often remind government officials (and others) that if the First Amendment only protected the expression of popular and agreeable ideas, it would be totally unnecessary since those ideas would never be threatened by our democratic form of government. Our society's commitment to free speech is tested when we encounter the expression of ideas that are disagreeable -- or even offensive.~ Timothy Lynch Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print