quotations about liberty
Every man derives his right to life and liberty from God.
H. BINGHAM
attributed, Day's Collacon
Liberty is life; slavery is death.
A. VINET
attributed, Day's Collacon
'Tis liberty alone that gives the flower
Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume;
And we are weeds without it.
WILLIAM COWPER
The Task
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
attributed, The Very Best of Thomas Jefferson: Thoughts of a Founding Father
The men of the future will yet fight their way to many a liberty that we do not even miss.
MAX STIRNER
The Ego and Its Own
Indeed nations, in general, are not apt to think until they feel; and therefore nations in general have lost their liberty: For as violations of the rights of the governed, are commonly not only specious, but small at the beginning, they spread over the multitude in such a manner, as to touch individuals but slightly. Thus they are disregarded. The power or profit that arises from these violations centering in few persons, is to them considerable. For this reason the governors having in view their particular purposes, successively preserve an uniformity of conduct for attaining them. They regularly increase the first injuries, till at length the inattentive people are compelled to perceive the heaviness of their burthens -- They begin to complain and inquire -- but too late. They find their oppressors so strengthened by success, and themselves so entangled in examples of express authority on the part of their rulers, and of tacit recognition on their own part, that they are quite confounded: for millions entertain no other idea of the legality of power, than it is founded on the exercise of power.
JOHN DICKENSON
The Political Writings of John Dickinson
The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
JOHN ADAMS
notes for an oration at Braintree, spring 1772
A people contending for life and liberty are seldom disposed to look with a favorable eye upon either men or measures whose passions, interests or consequences will clash with those inestimable objects.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
letter to General Thomas, Jul. 23, 1775
Liberty is not free. Our sons and daughters have answered the call again and again. They have done this without regard for sex, race or religion. We are the melting pot. This is what makes us strong. Many have given their all ... for the freedoms we enjoy.
DAN O'REILLY
speech at Memorial Day ceremony in Cannon Beach, The Daily Astorian, May 31, 2016
Liberty is so great a magician, endowed with so marvelous a power of productivity, that under the inspiration of this spirit alone, North America was able within less than a century to equal, and even surpass, the civilization of Europe.
MIKHAIL BAKUNIN
"Reasoned Proposal to the Central Committee of the League for Peace and Freedom", September 1867
Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.
BIBLE
Leviticus 25:10
Liberty, like health, appears most precious when lost.
NORMAN MACDONALD
Maxims and Moral Reflections
Liberty is the soul's right to breathe, and when it cannot take a long breath, laws are girdled too tight.
HENRY WARD BEECHER
Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit
And now that the legislator and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty: for liberty is an acknowledgement of faith in God and His works.
FREDERICK BASTIAT
The Law
Please use your liberty to promote ours.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI
"Please Use Your Liberty to Promote Ours", International Herald Tribune, Feb. 4, 1997
I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the wind,
To blow on whom I please.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
As You Like It
It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
letter to Benjamin Rush, Apr. 21, 1803
Clearly when the liberties are left unrestricted they collide with one another.
JOHN RAWLS
A Theory of Justice
Of liberty I would say that, in the whole plenitude of its extent, it is unobstructed action according to our will. But rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
letter to Isaac H. Tiffany, Apr. 4, 1819
The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedients, and by parts.
EDMUND BURKE
letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol, Apr. 3, 1777