Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2019-11-23 Nov 22, 2019Freedom of the mind requires not only, or not even especially, the absence of legal constraints but the presence of alternative thoughts. The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity, but the one that removes awareness of other possibilities.~ Alan BloomToleration is good for all, or it is good for none.~ Edmund BurkeIf there is a bedrock principle of the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.~ Justice William J. Brennan Nov 21, 2019All discussion, all debate, all dissidence tends to question and in consequence, to upset existing convictions; that is precisely its purpose and its justification.~ Judge Learned HandThere is an almost universal tendency, perhaps an inborn tendency, to suspect the good faith of a man who holds opinions that differ from our own opinions… It obviously endangers the freedom and the objectivity of our discussion if we attack a person instead of attacking an opinion or, more precisely, a theory.~ Sir Karl PopperAnd this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in all the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.~ John Steinbeck Nov 20, 2019...there is no such entity as 'the public' - since the public is merely a number of individuals - the idea that 'the public interest' supersedes private interests and rights can have but one meaning: that the interests and rights of some individuals take precedence over the interests and rights of others.~ Ayn RandIn republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also in despotic governments: in the former, because they are everything; in the latter, because they are nothing.~ Charles-Louis de SecondatThey [the founders] proclaimed to all the world the revolutionary doctrine of the divine rights of the common man. That doctrine has ever since been the heart of the American faith.~ Dwight D. Eisenhower Nov 19, 2019Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its only sure defense.~ Mark TwainThe heart of the liberal philosophy is a belief in the dignity of the individual, in his freedom to make the most of his capacities and opportunities according to his own lights…This implies a belief in the equality of man in one sense; in their inequality in another.~ Milton FriedmanFreedom is the recognition that no single person, no single authority or government has a monopoly on the truth, but that every individual life is infinitely precious, that every one of us put in this world has been put there for a reason and has something to offer. It´s so hard for government planners, no matter how sophisticated, to ever substitute for millions of individuals working night and day to make their dreams come true. The fact is, bureaucracies are a problem around the world.~ Ronald Reagan Nov 18, 2019Any attempt to replace a personal conscience by a collective conscience does violence to the individual and is the first step toward totalitarianism.~ Herman HesseWhenever 'A' attempts by law to impose his moral standards upon 'B', 'A' is most likely a scoundrel.~ H. L. MenckenAnd it is not difficult to show, by abundant instances, that to extend the bounds of what may be called moral police, until it encroaches on the most unquestionably legitimate liberty of the individual, is one of the most universal of all human propensities.~ John Stuart Mill Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print