Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [161-180] of 503 Speech quotesSpeech QuotesSpeech Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes The idea of neutrality in the speech context not only requires that the state refrain from choosing among viewpoints, but also that it not structure public debate in such a way as to favor one viewpoint over another. The state must act as a high-minded parliamentarian, making certain that all viewpoints are fully and fairly heard.~ Owen Fiss Censorship in any form, represents a lack of trust in the judgment of the individual. The passage of time provides the best perspective for sorting the wheat from the chaff.~ Bruce E. Fleury If the human body's obscene, complain to the manufacturer, not me.~ Larry Flynt We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship.~ E. M. Forster Two cheers for democracy; one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism.~ E. M. Forster No human government has a right to enquire into private opinions, to presume that it knows them, or to act on that presumption. Men are the best judges of the consequences of their own opinions, and how far they are likely to influence their actions; and it is most unnatural and tyrannical to say, “as you think, so must you act. I will collect the evidence of your future conduct from what I know to be your opinions.”~ Charles James Fox Opinions become dangerous to a state only when persecution makes it necessary for the people to communicate their ideas under the bond of secrecy.~ Charles James Fox Every attempt to gag the free expression of thought is an unsocial act against society. That is why judges and juries who try to enforce such laws make themselves ridiculous.~ Jay Fox To vest a few fallible men – prosecutors, judges, jurors – with vast powers of literary or artistic censorship, to convert them into what J. S. Mill has called the “Moral Police,” it is to make them despotic arbiters of literary products.~ Jerome D. Frank 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 A statute intended to prevent unwarranted intrusions into a citizen’s privacy cannot be used as a shield for public officials who cannot assert a comparable right of privacy in their public duties. Such action impedes the free flow of information concerning public officials and violates the First Amendment right to gather such information. ... The [Illinois Eavesdropping Statute] includes conduct that is unrelated to the statute’s purpose and is not rationally related to the evil the legislation sought to prohibit. For example, a defendant recording his case in a courtroom has nothing to do with an intrusion into a citizen’s privacy but with distraction. ... The court finds the Illinois Eavesdropping Statute is unconstitutional on its face and as applied to the defendant as the statute is violative of substantive due process.~ Judge David Frankland In those wretched countries where a man cannot call his tongue his own, he can scarce call anything his own. Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.~ Benjamin Franklin Printers are educated in the Belief, that when Men differ in Opinion, both sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Public; and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter: Hence [printers] cheerfully serve all contending Writers that pay them well, without regarding on which side they are of the Question in Dispute.~ Benjamin Franklin Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.~ Benjamin Franklin To protest free speech in the name of protecting women is dangerous and wrong.~ Betty Friedan The citizen who criticizes his country is paying it an implied tribute.~ J. William Fulbright In a democracy dissent is an act of faith, like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects.~ J. William Fulbright We must dare to think “unthinkable” thoughts… We must learn to welcome and not to fear the voices of dissent… Because when things become unthinkable, thinking stops and action becomes mindless.~ J. William Fulbright When public men indulge themselves in abuse, when they deny others a fair trial, when they resort to innuendo and insinuation, to libel, scandal, and suspicion, then our democratic society is outraged, and democracy is baffled.~ J. William Fulbright Under the privilege of the First Amendment many, many ridiculous things are said.~ John Kenneth Galbraith Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print