Top 100 Freedom Quotes of All Time

A short, finished list rather than an endless feed: 100 of the best freedom quotes ever written, picked out of the full freedom archive on QuoteForever. You will find Franklin D. Roosevelt, Felix Frankfurter, Friedrich August Von Hayek and Dwight D. Eisenhower among them.

Read the list top to bottom, or use it as a starting point - every author name links to everything else they said, and every quote has its own page you can share or turn into an image.

Freedom - to walk free and own no superior. - Walt Whitman 1

Freedom - to walk free and own no superior.

2

Fish love the ocean. Snakes move like earth-fish inside a mountain,well away from seawater. Certain sunfish,though,turn snakes into ocean lovers.

3

We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom. And now, as in no other age, we seek it because we have been warned, by the power of modern weapons, that peace may be the only climate possible for human life itself.

4

Here is my advice as we begin the century that will lead to 2081. First, guard the freedom of ideas at all costs. Be alert that dictators have always played on the natural human tendency to blame others and to oversimplify. And don't regard yourself as a guardian of freedom unless you respect and preserve the rights of people you disagree with to free, public, unhampered expression.

5

We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves...The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, 'You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.' The human spirit is indomitable.

6

The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the goverment.

7

Freedom lies in being bold.

8

Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.

9

We hail the return of the day of thy birth, Fair Columbia! washed by the waves of two oceans Where men from the farthest dominions of earth Rear altars to Freedom, and pay their devotions; Where our fathers in fight, nobly strove for the Right, Struck down their fierce foemen or put them to flight; Through the long lapse of ages, that so there might be An asylum for all in the Land of the Free.

10

My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.

11

Freedom is not an ideal, it is not even a protection, if it means nothing more than freedom to stagnate, to live without dreams, to have no greater aim than a second car and another television set.

12

All you have to do is say "yes." Don't make some big project out of it. Don't make some big deal out of it. Just say "yes." You don't even know what it means to say "yes," but you say it anyway. You'll never know what it means to say "yes," but you do it anyway. Freedom and Love arise when you die into the unknown mystery of being.

13

Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear.

14

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

15

As long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a country where civil liberty, tolerance and equality of all citizens before the law prevail.

16

In America the majority raises formidable barriers around the liberty of opinion; within these barriers an author may write what he pleases, but woe to him if he goes beyond them.

17

it was while helping others to be free that I gained my own freedom.

18

We set up a certain aim, and put ourselves of our own will into the power of a certain current. Once having done that, we find ourselves committed to usages and customs which we had not before fully known, but from which we cannot depart without giving up the end which we have chosen. But we have no right, therefore, to claim that we are under the yoke of necessity. We might as well say that the man whom we see struggling vainly in the current of Niagara could not have helped jumping in.

19

The world's 'freeest' country has the highest number in prison.

20

Any community seriously concerned with its own freedom has to be concerned about other people's freedom as well. The victory of oppressed people anywhere in the world is a victory for Black people. Each time one of imperialism's tentacles is cut off we are closer to liberation.

21

Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.

22

The structure that is currently in place, inside government, forcing government employees to pay union dues, even if they don't want to be in a union -- that is fundamentally unconstitutional and it is against the American system of freedom of choice.

23

A real leader has the ability to motivate others to their highest level of achievement; then gives them the opportunity and the freedom to grow.

24

Do you want to be right more than you want to know the truth? It's the truth that set me free. Acceptance, peace, and less attachment to a world of suffering are all effects of doing The Work. They're not the goals. Do The Work for the love of freedom, for the love of truth.

25

There is no thought or situation that you can't put up against inquiry. Every thought, every person, every apparent problem is here for the sake of your freedom.

26

The Constitution is the sole source and guaranty of national freedom.

27

Kids should speak to each other. They're horrid to each other online, they bully each other - they should shut up and stop it. The problem with social media is there is too much freedom. It's too much, too young.

28

[On Sophie Germain] When a person of the sex which, according to our customs and prejudices, must encounter infinitely more difficulties than men... succeeds nevertheless in surmounting these obstacles and penetrating the most obscure parts of [number theory], then without doubt she must have the noblest courage, quite extraordinary talents and superior genius.

29

Men of ideas vanish when freedom vanishes.

30

Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.

31

The most fatal thing a man can do is try to stand alone.

32

If you want to sing out, sing out, and if you want to be free, be free, cause there's a million ways to be, you know that there are.

33

I would not be beholden to a tyrant, for his acts of tyranny. For it is but usurpation in him to save, as their rightful lord, the lives of men over whom he has no title to reign.

34

When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.

35

I was born, have lived, and will die free.

36

Now: heaven knows, anything goes.

37

I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation.

38

Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.

39

I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change.

40

Freedom cannot be given... It can only be taken away.

41

The prosperity of the second half of the twentieth century was both a cause and an effect of social and scientific breakthroughs that have redefined human life. The biggest change is simply that people live longer and have far more freedom to think about things other than staying alive.

42

I find only freedom in the realms of eccentricity.

43

Today, hundreds of millions dwell in freedom, from the Baltic to the Adriatic, from the Western Approaches to the Aegean. And while we must never take this for granted, the first purpose of the European Union - to secure peace - has been achieved and we should pay tribute to all those in the EU, alongside Nato, who made that happen.

44

"It can't happen here" is number one on the list of famous last words.

45

Men are created different; they lose their social freedom and their individual autonomy in seeking to become like each other.

46

When you are completely free from boundaries, you don't have to have a huge number of material things. You already own something far more precious. You own yourself.

47

The general interest of the masses might take the place of the insight of genius if it were allowed freedom of action.

48

We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose. We cannot afford to use methods of which we will be ashamed when we look back, when we say, '...we shouldn't have done that.' We must remember, my friends, that we have been given a wonderful cause. The cause of freedom! And you and I must be those who will walk with heads held high. We will say, 'We used methods that can stand the harsh scrutiny of history.'

49

We hold in our hands, the most precious gift of all: Freedom. The freedom to express our art. Our love. The freedom to be who we want to be. We are not going to give that freedom away and no one shall take it from us!

50

...with the power of compassion there is nothing that cannot be accomplished.

51

The more developed a nation is, the more complete is the independence of the individual, and the safer the individual from encroachments by another.

52

Censors are necessary, increasingly necessary, if America is to avoid having a vital literature.

53

No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.

54

Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.

55

Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within.

56

Knowing yourself as the awareness behind the voice is freedom.

57

When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.

58

What good is a Bill of Rights that does not include the right to play, to wander, to explore, the right to stillness and solitude, to discovery and physical freedom?

59

Freedom may come quickly in robes of peace or after ages of conflict and war, but come it will, and abide it will, so long as the principles by which it was acquired are held sacred.

60

The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.

61

We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.

62

Responsibility is the price of freedom.

63

Fear clogs; Faith liberates.

64

If you allow one single germ, one single seed of slavery to remain in the soil of America... that germ will spring up, that noxious weed will thrive, and again stifle the growth, wither the leaves, blast the flowers and poison the fair fruits of freedom.

65

A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.

66

They tell us that we live in a great free republic; that our institutions are democratic; that we are a free and self-governing people. That is too much, even for a joke. ... Wars throughout history have been waged for conquest and plunder... And that is war in a nutshell. The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.

67

A slave is he who cannot speak his thoughts.

68

A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.

69

Ay, call it holy ground, The soil where first they trod, They have left unstained, what there they found,- Freedom to worship God.

70

Ultimately there can be no freedom for self unless it is vouchsafed for others; there can be no security where there is fear, and a democratic society presupposes confidence and candor in the relations of men with one another and eager collaboration for the larger ends of life instead of the pursuit of petty, selfish or vainglorious aims.

71

Freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to the end of a free society.

72

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.

73

One of the unsung freedoms that go with a free press is the freedom not to read it.

74

Freedom is the total absence of concern about yourself.

75

I foresee it and yet I hardly ever carry it out as I foresee it. It transforms itself by the actual paint. I don't in fact know very often what the paint will do, and it does many things which are very much better than I could make it do.

76

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.

77

The Bill of Rights is a born rebel. It reeks with sedition. In every clause it shakes its fist in the face of constituted authority. It is the one guaranty of human freedom to the American people.

78

A free America... means just this: individual freedom for all, rich or poor, or else this system of government we call democracy is only an expedient to enslave man to the machine and make him like it.

79

One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.

80

My vision is a future for humanity where we will be completely free to pursue activities outside of our planet.

81

The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerated the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.

82

Liberty requires opportunity to make a living--a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives a man not only enough to live by, but something to live for.

83

Freedom to learn is the first necessity of guaranteeing that man himself shall be self reliant enough to be free.

84

The winds that blow through the wide sky in these mounts, the winds that sweep from Canada to Mexico, from the Pacific to the Atlantic - have always blown on free men.

85

We stand committed to the proposition that freedom is no half-and-half affair. If the average citizen is guaranteed equal opportunity in the polling place, he must have equal opportunity in the market place.

86

Heaven's blessing must attend all, and freedom must soon be given to the pining millions under a ruthless bondage.

87

'Emergencies' have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have been eroded.

88

Freedom granted only when it is known beforehand that its effects will be beneficial is not freedom.

89

Our submission to general principles is necessary because we cannot be guided in our practical action by full knowledge and evaluation of the consequences. So long as men are not omniscient, the only way in which freedom can be given to the individual is by such general rules to delimit the sphere in which the decision is his. There can be no freedom if the government is not limited to particular kinds of action but can use its powers in any ways which serve particular ends.

90

The voice of the majority is no proof of justice.

91

Freedom exists only with power.

92

Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons.

93

Freedom doesn't mean aimlessness. We can't just sleepwalk through life.... Freedom demands structure.

94

No one outside ourselves can rule us inwardly. When we know this, we become free.

95

The East knew and to the present day knows only that One is Free; the Greek and the Roman world, that some are free; the German World knows that All are free. The first political form therefore which we observe in History, is Despotism, the second Democracy and Aristocracy, the third, Monarchy.

96

The sole work and deed of universal freedom is therefore death, a death too which has no inner significance or filling, for what is negated is the empty point of the absolutely free self. It is thus the coldest and meanest of all deaths, with no more significance than cutting off a head of cabbage or swallowing a mouthful of water.

97

Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.

98

When a prisoner sees the door of his dungeon open, he dashes for it without stopping to think where he shall get his dinner outside.

99

If the people were to ever find out what we have done, we would be chased down the streets and lynched.

100

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

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