Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2019-09-09 Sep 9, 2019I would rather starve and rot and keep the privilege of speaking the truth as I see it, than of holding all the offices that capital has to give from the presidency down.~ Henry Brooks AdamsIt is a governing principle of nature, that the agency which can produce most good, when perverted from its proper aim, is most productive of evil. It behooves the well-intentioned, therefore, vigorously to watch the tendency of even their most highly-prized institutions, since that which was established in the interests of the right, may so easily become the agent of the wrong.~ James Fenimore CooperThe cause of anger is the belief that we are injured; this belief, therefore, should not be lightly entertained. We ought not to fly into a rage even when the injury appears to be open and distinct: for some false things bear the semblance of truth. We should always allow some time to elapse, for time discloses the truth.~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca Sep 6, 2019The civilized man has a moral obligation to be skeptical, to demand the credentials of all statements that claim to be facts.~ Bergan EvansFidelity to the public requires that the laws be as plain and explicit as possible, that the less knowing may understand, and not be ensnared by them, while the artful evade their force.~ Samuel CookeWithout an unfettered press, without liberty of speech, all of the outward forms and structures of free institutions are a sham, a pretense -- the sheerest mockery. If the press is not free; if speech is not independent and untrammeled; if the mind is shackled or made impotent through fear, it makes no difference under what form of government you live, you are a subject and not a citizen.~ William E. Borah Sep 5, 2019Human nature itself is evermore an advocate for liberty. There is also in human nature a resentment of injury, and indignation against wrong. A love of truth and a veneration of virtue. These amiable passions, are the "latent spark"... If the people are capable of understanding, seeing and feeling the differences between true and false, right and wrong, virtue and vice, to what better principle can the friends of mankind apply than to the sense of this difference?~ John AdamsStripped of all its covering, the naked question is, whether ours is a federal or consolidated government; a constitutional or absolute one; a government resting solidly on the basis of the sovereignty of the States, or on the unrestrained will of a majority; a form of government, as in all other unlimited ones, in which injustice, violence, and force must ultimately prevail.~ John C. CalhounIt's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.~ Noël Coward Sep 4, 2019It is frequently said that speech that is intentionally provocative and therefore invites physical retaliation can be punished or suppressed. Yet, plainly no such general proposition can be sustained. Quite the contrary…. The provocative nature of the communication does not make it any the less expression. Indeed, the whole theory of free expression contemplates that expression will in many circumstances be provocative and arouse hostility. The audience, just as the speaker, has an obligation to maintain physical restraint.~ Thomas I. EmersonThe peak of tolerance is most readily achieved by those who are not burdened by convictions.~ Alexander ChaseI love agitation and investigation and glory in defending unpopular truth against popular error.~ James A. Garfield Sep 3, 2019A man should be upright, not be kept upright.~ Marcus Aurelius AntoninusIt is said that power corrupts, but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power.~ David BrinIncreasingly constructive doubt is the sign of advancing civilization.~ Jerome D. Frank Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print