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
Safe popular freedom consists of four things, the diffusion of liberty, of intelligence, of property, and of conscientiousness, and cannot be compounded of any three out of the four.
—Joseph Cook
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
Where equality is undisputed, so also is subordination.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Liberty is to the collective body, what health is to every individual body. Without health no pleasure can be tasted by man; without liberty, no happiness can be enjoyed by society.
—Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678–1751) English Politician, Philosopher
When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor
Political liberty is to be found only in moderate governments.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
Man’s liberty ends, and it ought to end, when that liberty becomes the curse of his neighbors.
—Frederic William Farrar (1831–1903) British Theological Writer
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
—S. G. Tallentyre (Evelyn Beatrice Hall)
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
Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Liberty, not communism, is the most contagious force in the world.
—Earl Warren (1891–1974) American Judge, Politician
Nothing can be unconditional: consequently nothing can be free.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
It would indeed be ironic if, in the name of national defense, we would sanction the subversion of those liberties which make the defense of the nation worthwhile.
—Earl Warren (1891–1974) American Judge, Politician
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the ground work of human freedom.
—Horace Greeley (1811–72) American Elected Rep, Politician, Reformer, Editor
We recall the joy and excitement of a nation that had found itself, the collective relief that we had stepped out of our restrictive past, and the expectant air of walking into a brighter future.
—Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) South African Political leader