Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [121-140] of 503 Speech quotesSpeech QuotesSpeech Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Freedom includes the right to say what others may object to and resent…The essence of citizenship is to be tolerant of strong and provocative words.~ John G. Diefenbaker I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.~ John G. Diefenbaker If you say to people that they, as a matter of fact, can’t protect their conversations, in particular their political conversations, I think you take a long step toward making a transition from a free society to a totalitarian society.~ Whitfield Diffie Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.~ Dionysius, the Elder [Tyranny is] to compel men not to think as they do, to compel men to express thoughts that are not their own.~ Milovan Djilas Free speech is essential to education, especially to a liberal education, which encourages the search for truths in art and science. If expression is restricted, the range of inquiry is also curtailed... The beneficiaries of a free society have a duty to pursue the truth and to protect the freedom of expression that makes possible the search for a new enlightenment.~ Norman Dorsen It would be interesting to know what it is men are most afraid of. Taking a new step, uttering a new word.~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky It is our attitude toward free thought and free expression that will determine our fate. There must be no limit on the range of temperate discussion, no limits on thought. No subject must be taboo. No censor must preside at our assemblies.~ Justice William O. Douglas The framers of the constitution knew human nature as well as we do. They too had lived in dangerous days; they too knew the suffocating influence of orthodoxy and standardized thought. They weighed the compulsions for restrained speech and thought against the abuses of liberty. They chose liberty.~ Justice William O. Douglas The dominant purpose of the First Amendment was to prohibit the widespread practice of government suppression of embarrassing information.~ Justice William O. Douglas The function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it invites a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions 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 passes for acceptance of an idea.~ Justice William O. Douglas The First and Fourteenth Amendments say that Congress and the States shall make “no law” which abridges freedom of speech or of the press. In order to sanction a system of censorship I would have to say that “no law” does not mean what it says, that “no law” is qualified to mean “some” laws. I cannot take this step.~ William O. Douglas Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down.~ Frederick Douglass To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.~ Frederick Douglass When books are challenged, restricted, removed, or banned, an atmosphere of suppression exists…. The fear of the consequences of censorship is as damaging as, or perhaps more damaging than, the actual censorship attempt. After all, when a published work is banned, it can usually be found elsewhere. Unexpressed ideas, unpublished works, unpurchased books are lost forever.~ Robert P. Doyle To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves.~ Will Durant ‘Balanced’ is a code for ‘denied’: a right to free speech that must be ‘balanced’ against so exhaustive a list of other supposed values means a right that can be exercised only when those in power judge that the speech in question is innocuous to them.~ Ronald Dworkin This article will probably be photocopied and passed around the offices of exactly the same organizations that queue up to denounce copyright theft.~ The Economist We who officially value freedom of speech above life itself seem to have nothing to talk about but the weather.~ Barbara Ehrenreich By academic freedom I understand the right to search for truth and to publish and teach what one holds to be true. This right implies also a duty; one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true.~ Albert Einstein Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print