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liberty quotes

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“The excess of liberty, whether in States or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.” Plato, The Republic
“Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.” Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
“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
“the price of liberty is not so much eternal vigilance as eternal dirt.” George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier
“Liberty is the nominal goal of Rousseau's thought, but in fact it is equality that he values, and that he seeks to secure even at the expense of liberty.” Bertrand Russell, A History of Western Philosophy
“Liberty may be gained, but can never be recovered.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract
“liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith” Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
“I desired liberty; for liberty I gasped; for liberty I uttered a prayer; it seemed scattered on the wind then faintly blowing.” Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
“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
“Liberty is worth paying for” Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
“From a political point of view, there is but a single principle; the sovereignty of man over himself. This sovereignty of myself over myself is called Liberty.” Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“They fancied themselves free, and no one will ever be free so long as there are pestilences.” Albert Camus, The Plague
“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
“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
“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
“Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death;—the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!” Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
“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
“Liberty . . . is a bitch who must be bedded on a mattress of corpses.” Neil Gaiman, American Gods
“Here beyond men's judgements all covenants were brittle.” Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian

Related topics

freedom government death faith tyranny democracy slavery price state independence men power self success reality pain desire justice peace morality

Related authors

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

Related sources

Democracy in America (2)
Civil Disobedience (2)
The Republic (2)
Looking Forward (1)
The New Freedom (1)
State of the Union Address (1)
The Plague (1)
Jane Eyre (1)
My Autobiography (1)
The Social Contract (1)
American Gods (1)
A History of Western Philosophy (1)
Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1)
Inaugural Address (1)
The Sorrows of Young Werther (1)
The Road to Wigan Pier (1)
Sceptical Essays (1)
The Subjection of Women (1)
A Tale of Two Cities (1)
Blood Meridian (1)