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128 quotes, newest first. New quotes join the top of the page as they are published, and every quote keeps its own page.

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Freedom Quotes — 128 Freedom Quotes, Each Checked to Its Source

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The Bible · John 8:32

Let my people go.

The Bible · Exodus 7:16

I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.

Mary Wollstonecraft · The source reads: “I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.”

God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide.

Rebecca West

Am I not a man and a brother.

Josiah Wedgwood

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Often credited to Voltaire · The sentence is S. G. Tallentyre's summary of Voltaire's attitude, in The Friends of Voltaire, 1906.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Henry David Thoreau

A free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.

Adlai Stevenson

A hungry man is not a free man.

Adlai Stevenson

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.

George Bernard Shaw

Every subject's duty is the king's; but every subject's soul is his own.

William Shakespeare

There is a world elsewhere.

William Shakespeare · The source reads: “For you, the city, thus I turn my back: There is a world elsewhere.”

I am condemned to be free.

Jean-Paul Sartre · The source reads: “Je suis condemnè á être libre. I am condemned to be free.”

The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it makes free those who have loved it.

George Santayana

Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau · The source reads: “L'homme est nè libre, et partout il est dans les fers. Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”

O liberty! O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!

Madame Roland · The source reads: “O libertè! O libertè! que de crimes on commet en ton nom! O liberty! O liberty! what crimes are committed in thy name!”

The poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he.

Thomas Rainborowe · During the Army debates at Putney, 29 October 1647, in C. H. Firth (ed.) 'The Clarke Papers' vol. 1, Camden Society, new series 49 (1891) p. 301.

We must plan for freedom, and not only for security, if for no other reason than that only freedom can make security secure.

Karl Popper

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

William Pitt

Tyranny is always better organised than freedom.

Charles Péguy · The source reads: “La tyrannie est toujours mieux organisèe que la libertè. Tyranny is always better organised than freedom.”

No man who knows aught, can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free.

John Milton

Freedom Quotes

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Let my people go.

I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves.

God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide.

Am I not a man and a brother.

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

A free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.

A hungry man is not a free man.

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.

Every subject's duty is the king's; but every subject's soul is his own.

There is a world elsewhere.

I am condemned to be free.

The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it makes free those who have loved it.

Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.

O liberty! O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!

The poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he.

We must plan for freedom, and not only for security, if for no other reason than that only freedom can make security secure.

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

Tyranny is always better organised than freedom.

Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.

Freedom is the right of doing whatever the laws permit.

No man who knows aught, can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free.

Frequently asked questions

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Freedom Quotes

“Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.”

“There is a world elsewhere.”

“The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it makes free those who have loved it.”

“O liberty! O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!”

“The poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he.”

“We must plan for freedom, and not only for security, if for no other reason than that only freedom can make security secure.”

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”

“Tyranny is always better organised than freedom.”

“No man who knows aught, can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free.”

Frequently asked questions

We Value Your Opinion Comments

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

There is a world elsewhere.

The truth is cruel, but it can be loved, and it makes free those who have loved it.

O liberty! O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!

The poorest he that is in England hath a life to live as the greatest he.

We must plan for freedom, and not only for security, if for no other reason than that only freedom can make security secure.

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

Tyranny is always better organised than freedom.

No man who knows aught, can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free.