Henry Steele Commager, (1902-1998) Historian and author Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [1-9] of 9 Henry Steele Commager quotesHenry Steele Commager QuotesHenry Steele Commager Every effort to confine Americanism to a single pattern, to constrain it to a single formula, is disloyalty to everything that is valid in Americanism.~ Henry Steele Commager Freedom is not a luxury that we can indulge in when at last we have security and prosperity and enlightenment; it is, rather, antecedent to all of these, for without it we can have neither security nor prosperity nor enlightenment.~ Henry Steele Commager Censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion... In the long run it will create a generation incapable of appreciating the difference between independence of thought and subservience.~ Henry Steele Commager Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.~ Henry Steele Commager A free society cherishes nonconformity. It knows from the non-conformist, from the eccentric, have come many of the great ideas.~ Henry Steele Commager Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.~ Henry Steele Commager Our tradition is one of protest and revolt, and it is stultifying to celebrate the rebels of the past while we silence the rebels of the present.~ Henry Steele Commager The justification and the purpose of freedom of speech is not to indulge those who want to speak their minds. It is to prevent error and discover truth. There may be other ways of detecting error and discovering truth than that of free discussion, but so far we have not found them.~ Henry Steele Commager America was born of revolt, flourished on dissent, became great through experimentation.~ Henry Steele Commager Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print