Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2014-01-08 Jan 8, 2014At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount of comedy that is permitted, and clearly a healthy society permits more satirical comment than a repressive, so that if comedy is to function in some way as a safety release then it must obviously deal with these taboo areas. This is part of the responsibility we accord our licensed jesters, that nothing be excused the searching light of comedy. If anything can survive the probe of humour it is clearly of value, and conversely all groups who claim immunity from laughter are claiming special privileges which should not be granted.~ Eric IdleThe secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.~ Groucho Marx Jan 7, 2014Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule -- and both commonly succeed, and are right.~ H. L. Mencken Jan 6, 2014In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.~ Bertrand RussellReserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.~ Hypatia of AlexandriaTo prevent inquiry is among the worst of evils.~ Thomas Holcroft Jan 3, 2014Civil liberty can be established on no foundation of human reason which will not at the same time demonstrate the right of religious freedom.~ John Quincy AdamsNeither the trappings of robes, nor temples of stone, nor a fixed liturgy, nor an extensive literature or history is required to meet the test of beliefs cognizable under the Constitution as religious. So far as our law is concerned, one person's religious beliefs held for one day are presumptively entitled to the same protection as the beliefs of millions which have been shared for thousands of years.~ Judge Jack B. WeinsteinJust 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 Jan 2, 2014[I]f we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy.~ Thomas JeffersonWhenever a single definite object is made the supreme end of the State, be it the advantage of a class, the safety of the power of the country, the greatest happiness of the greatest number, or the support of any speculative idea, the State becomes for the time inevitably absolute.~ Lord ActonThe makers of our constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness... They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone – the most comprehensive of the rights and the right most valued by civilized men.~ Justice Louis D. Brandeis Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print