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Liberty quotes

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“Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.” Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America” - 1835

“Liberty may be gained, but can never be recovered.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “The Social Contract” - 1762

“The excess of liberty, whether in States or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.” Plato, “The Republic”

“They fancied themselves free, and no one will ever be free so long as there are pestilences.” Albert Camus, “The Plague” - 1947

“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

“Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

“Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they already possess, and which if surrendered will surely be used to close the door of advancement against such as they and to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them till all of liberty...” Abraham Lincoln, “State of the Union Address” - 3 December 1861

“And so tyranny naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out of the most extreme form of liberty?” Plato, “The Republic”

“Naturalists tell of a noble race of horses that instinctively open a vein with their teeth, when heated and exhausted by a long course, in order to breathe more freely. I am often tempted to open a vein, to procure for myself everlasting liberty.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “The Sorrows of Young Werther” - 1774

“It is, that human beings are no longer born to their place in life, and chained down by an inexorable bond to the place they are born to, but are free to employ their faculties, and such favourable chances as offer, to achieve the lot which may...” John Stuart Mill, “The Subjection of Women” - 1869

“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.” Charlie Chaplin, “My Autobiography” - 1964

“Let us be clear at the outset that the liberty of individuals to carry on their business should not be abrogated unless the larger interests of the many are concerned.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Looking Forward” - 1933

“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, “Inaugural Address” - 20 January 1961

“Not only that, my style was too erratic and hard to pigeonhole for the radio, and songs, to me, were more important than just light entertainment. They were my preceptor and guide into some altered consciousness of reality, some different...” Bob Dylan, “Chronicles, Volume One” - 2004

“I believe, for one, that you cannot tear up ancient rootages and safely plant the tree of liberty in soil which is not native to it.” Woodrow Wilson, “The New Freedom” - 1913

“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the trusted foundations of political liberty.” Woodrow Wilson, “We Must Accept War” - 2 April 1917

“Liberty . . . is a bitch who must be bedded on a mattress of corpses.” Neil Gaiman, “American Gods” - 2001

“Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are all embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.” Bertrand Russell, “Sceptical Essays” - 1928

“Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death;—the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!” Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities” - 1859

Related topics

freedom death slavery democracy government tyranny burden men success reality killing justice desire sorrow power hate pain price business peace

Related authors

Henry David Thoreau (2)
Plato (2)
Woodrow Wilson (2)
Charles Dickens (1)
Abraham Lincoln (1)
Bertrand Russell (1)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1)
John Stuart Mill (1)
Alexis de Tocqueville (1)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1)
Charlie Chaplin (1)
Albert Camus (1)
Neil Gaiman (1)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1)
John F. Kennedy (1)
Bob Dylan (1)

Related sources

Civil Disobedience (2)
The Republic (2)
State of the Union Address (1)
The Sorrows of Young Werther (1)
The Subjection of Women (1)
Democracy in America (1)
The Social Contract (1)
Inaugural Address (1)
My Autobiography (1)
The Plague (1)
American Gods (1)
Looking Forward (1)
Chronicles, Volume One (1)
The New Freedom (1)
We Must Accept War (1)
A Tale of Two Cities (1)
Sceptical Essays (1)