Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [421-440] of 502 Speech quotesSpeech QuotesSpeech Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Protection of political speech advanced two important democratic goals:1) an informed citizenry that would be capable of making educated decisions on matters of public concern, and 2) a free and open marketplace of ideas wherein the truth would ultimately prevail… Only through a vigorous and spirited public debate could citizens be educated about the actions of their government and react responsibly.~ Craig R. Smith I do not subscribe to the doctrine that the people are the slaves and property of their government. I believe that government is for the use of the people, and not the people for the use of the government.~ Gerrit Smith This is precisely the purpose of censorship – not only to block unwanted views, but to keep people who are unhappy from knowing how many millions of others share their unhappiness; to keep the dormant opposition from awakening to its own developing strength.~ Hedrick Smith A nation committed to an open culture will defend human expression and conscience in all its wonderful variety, protecting freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and freedom of peaceful mass protest.~ Rodney A. Smola Freedom of thought, conscience, and expression are numinous values, linked to the defining characteristics of man. The time has come for societies around the world to embrace the idea of an open culture as an aspiration of transcendent importance.~ Rodney A. Smola The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen.~ Tommy Smothers Saying it’s okay for the government to spy on you because you’re innocent and you have “nothing to hide”... Is like saying it’s okay for the government to censor free speech because you have “nothing to say.” ~ Edward Snowden Hastiness and superficiality are the psychic diseases of the twentieth century, and more than anywhere else this disease is reflected in the press.~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the intrusion of force. This is not merely interference with freedom of the press but the sealing up of a nation’s heart, the excision of its memory.~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Woe to that nation whose literature is disturbed by the intervention of power. Because that is not just a violation against "freedom of print", it is the closing down of the heart of the nation, a slashing to pieces of its memory. The nation ceases to be mindful of itself, it is deprived of its spiritual unity, and despite a supposedly common language, compatriots suddenly cease to understand one another.~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn The Internet…has become the voice of the people in the first genuine experiment in democracy yet conducted in America. It stands ready to serve every facet, every faction.~ Gerry Spence What we call the freedom of the individual is not just the luxury of one intellectual to write what he likes to write but his being a voice which can speak for those who are silent.~ Stephen Spender Laws which prescribe what everyone must believe, and forbid men to say or write anything against this or that opinion, are often passed to gratify, or rather to appease the anger of those who cannot abide independent minds.~ Baruch Spinoza As a matter of constitutional tradition, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we presume that governmental regulation of the content of speech is more likely to interfere with the free exchange of ideas than to encourage it. The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship.~ Justice John Paul Stevens Just as the right to speak and the right to refrain from speaking are complementary components of a broader concept of individual freedom, so also the individual’s freedom to choose his own creed is the counterpart of his right to refrain from accepting the creed established by the majority.~ Justice John Paul Stevens If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow it wherever the search may lead us.~ Adlai E. Stevenson II Freedom rings where opinions clash.~ Adlai E. Stevenson II It is a common heresy and its graves are to be found all over the earth. It is the heresy that says you can kill an idea by killing a man, defeat a principle by defeating a person, bury truth by burying its vehicle.~ Adlai E. Stevenson II The sound of tireless voices is the price we pay for the right to hear the music of our own opinions.~ Adlai E. Stevenson II 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 Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print