Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
Man’s liberty ends, and it ought to end, when that liberty becomes the curse of his neighbors.
—Frederic William Farrar (1831–1903) English Clergyman, Writer
You cannot have Liberty in this world without what you call Moral Virtue, and you cannot have Moral Virtue without the slavery of that half of the human race who hate what you call Moral Virtue.
—William Blake (1757–1827) English Poet, Painter, Printmaker
When I see the spirit of liberty in action, I see a strong principle at work and this, for a while, is all I can possibly know of it. The wild gas, the fixed air, is plainly broke loose: but we ought to suspend our judgment until the first effervescence is a little subsided, till the liquor is cleared, and until we see something deeper than the agitation of a troubled and frothy surface. I must be tolerably sure, before I venture publicly to congratulate men upon a blessing, that they have really received one.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
Liberty without learning is always in peril and learning without liberty is always in vain
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
Liberty is the right to do what the laws allow; and if a citizen could do what they forbid, it would be no longer liberty, because others would have the same powers.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
Free will is not the liberty to do whatever one likes, but the power of doing whatever one sees ought to be done, even in the very face of otherwise overwhelming impulse. There lies freedom, indeed.
—George MacDonald (1824–1905) Scottish Novelist, Lecturer, Poet
I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain
—John Adams (1735–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
They who are in the highest places, and have the most power, have the least liberty, because they are the most observed.
—John Tillotson
Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have.
—Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878–1969) American Baptist Minister
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.
—Barry Goldwater (1909–98) American Elected Representative, Businessperson, Politician
The human race cannot go forward without liberty. If this be correct, then all people everywhere should strive for liberty. If they achieve liberty, they will get a chance to pursue happiness and perhaps will be able to develop toward the ultimate goal of creation.
—Richard Evelyn Byrd (b.1888) American Aviator, Explorer, Military Leader
What light is to the eyes—what air is to the lungs—what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
The only rational liberty is that which is born of subjection, reared in the fear of God and love of man, and roads courageous in the defense of a trust, and the prosecution of a duty.
—William Gilmore Simms (1806–70) American Poet, Novelist, Historian
I would rather not be a king than to forfeit my liberty.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The love of religious liberty is a stronger sentiment, when fully excited, than an attachment to civil freedom. Conscience, in the cause of religion, prepares the mind to act and to suffer, beyond almost all other causes. It sometimes gives an impulse so irresistible, that no fetters of power or of opinion can withstand it. History instructs us, that this love of religious liberty, made up of the clearest sense of right and the highest conviction of duty, is able to look the sternest despotism in the face, and, with means apparently inadequate, to shake principalities and powers.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
What do we mean by setting a man free? You cannot free a man who dwells in a desert and is an unfeeling brute. There is no liberty except the liberty of some one making his way towards something. Such a man can be set free if you will teach him the meaning of thirst, and how to trace a path to a well. Only then will he embark upon a course of action that will not be without significance. You could not liberate a stone if there were no law of gravity—for where will the stone go, once it is quarried?
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
To renounce liberty is to renounce being a man, to surrender the rights of humanity and even its duties
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district—all studied and appreciated as they merit—are the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
Personal liberty is the paramount essential to human dignity and human happiness.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Where there are too many policemen, there is no liberty. Where there are too many soldiers, there is no peace. Where there are too many lawyers, there is no justice.
—Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese Author, Philologist
It is not one man nor a million, but the spirit of liberty that must be preserved. The waves which dash upon the shore are, one by one, broken, but the ocean conquers nevertheless. It overwhelms the Armada, it wears out the rock. In like manner, whatever the struggle of individuals, the great cause will gather strength.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Nothing can be unconditional: consequently nothing can be free.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The shallow consider liberty a release from all law, from every constraint. The wise man sees in it, on the contrary, the potent Law of Laws.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist, American, Poet, Essayist, Journalist
There are two freedoms—the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought.
—Charles Kingsley (1819–75) English Clergyman, Academic, Historian, Novelist
I would rather belong to a poor nation that was free than to a rich nation that had ceased to be in love with liberty.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
Liberty-is one of the choicest gifts that heaven hath bestowed upon man, and exceeds in volume all the treasures which the earth contains within its bosom or the sea covers. Liberty, as well as honor, man ought to preserve at the hazard of his life, for without it, life in insupportable.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Liberty will not descend to a people, a people must raise themselves to liberty; it is a blessing that must be earned before it can be enjoyed.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
It has long been a grave question whether any government, not too strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong enough to maintain its existence in great emergencies.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor
Give me the liberty to know, to think to believe, and to utter freely, according to conscience, above all other liberties.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
Men regard it as their right to return evil for evil and, if they cannot, feel they have lost their liberty
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
What is life? It is not to stalk about, and draw fresh air, or gaze upon the sun; it is to be free.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Liberty is obedience to the law which one has laid down for oneself.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
I like to walk about among the beautiful things that adorn the world; but private wealth I should decline, or any sort of personal possessions, because they would take away my liberty.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
There is no liberty to men whose passions are stronger than their religious feelings; there is no liberty to men in whom ignorance predominates over knowledge; there is no liberty to men who know not how to govern themselves.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Liberty consists in wholesome restraint.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
If you take a worm’s eye view of the ills in American life and our foreign relations; you may worry that we are entering the decline and fall of the greatest nation in history. If you take a bird’s eye view you will see the increasing skills, growing productivity, and the expansion of education and understanding, with improving health and growing strength all over our nation. And from whence came this strength? It lies in freedom of men’s initiative and the rewards of their efforts. It comes from our devotion to liberty and religious faith. We will have no decline and fall of this nation, provided we stand guard against the evils which would weaken these forces.
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) 31st American President
In my youth I stressed freedom, and in my old age I stress order. I have made the great discovery that liberty is a product of order.
—William C. Durant (1861–1947) American Industrialist
Interwoven is the love of liberty with every ligament of the heart.
—George Washington (1732–99) American Head of State, Military Leader
Easier were it to hurl the rooted mountain from its base, than force the yoke of slavery upon men determined to be free.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
If the true spark of religious and civil liberty be kindled, it will burn. Human agency cannot extinguish it. Like the earth’s central fire, it may be smothered for a time; the ocean may overwhelm it; mountains may press it down; but its inherent and unconquerable force will heave both the ocean and the land, and at some time or another, in some place or another, the volcano will break out and flame to heaven.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.
—David Hume (1711–76) Scottish Philosopher, Historian
The liberty of a people consists in being governed by laws which they have made themselves, under whatsoever form it be of government. The liberty of a private man, in being master of his own time and actions, as far as may consist with the laws of God and of his country.
—Abraham Cowley (1618–67) English Poet, Essayist
When liberty comes with hands dabbled in blood it is hard to shake hands with her.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
There is nothing with which it is so dangerous to take liberties as liberty itself.
—Andre Breton (1896–1966) French Poet, Essayist, Critic