Justice Louis D. Brandeis Quote

"Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of
free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burned women.
It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of
irrational fears."

by:	Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941) US Supreme Court Justice
Source:	Whitney v. California, 1927
Rating:
Categories:	Freedom, Government, Jury, Justice, Liberty, Republic, Rights, Sovereignty, Terrorism, Tyranny, Women
	Tweet

-- Carolyn (Beth) Craig, Norfolk
FREE PEOPLE DON'T FEAR THEIR SERVANTS, THEY FIRE THEM!  -- Dave Wilber
-- Mike, Norwalk
So lets fire the house the senate the executive branch and all their pages and personnel. We are after all the board.  -- Sam, Alabama
When the government fears the People, then the People have a fighting chance. When the People fear the government, the Republic is lost.  -- E Archer, NYC
Just go to almost any U S college and try to engage in free speech. You will find that you are only allowed liberal speech or you may find that witch burning still lives in the hearts of the American left.  -- warren, olathe
Peggy Noonan of the Washington Post just wrote something with a similar point. "You don't want to judge Christ by Christians, someone once said. He is perfect, they are not. In a similar way you don't want to judge capitalism by capitalists, or the legitimacy of democracy by the Democrats, or the vitality of our republic by the Republicans. You have to take the thing pure and in itself, while allowing for the flaws and waywardness of its practitioners. I say this because here in America we have reached a funny pass. People are doing and saying odd things as if they don't know the meaning of the thing they say they stand for. In particular I mean we used to be proud of whom we allowed to speak, and now are leaning toward defining ourselves by whom we don't speak to and will not allow to speak. This is not progress. Conservatives on campus are shouted down. A crusader against illegal immigration is rushed off the stage at Columbia University. Great newspapers give ad breaks to groups with which they feel an ideological affinity, but turn away ads from those they do not, such as antiabortion groups. And they call this a business. So much silencing. It seems so weak, so out of keeping with who we are. We love the tradition of free speech in America, but you don't want to judge its health by what we've done with it lately or to it." She goes on about the kind of people who are allowed to speak on campus. She defends that, but the point is obvious. Does liberalism have more "irrational fears" of the conservative than the terrorist?  -- Dana, Holland
Sorry, here is the link to her entire piece: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/  -- Dana, Holland
-- Anonymous
Cool!  -- hgjhg, boise

Tweet  Rate this quote! How many stars? 0 1 2 3 4 5	What do YOU think?
Your name:	Your town:     CLICK JUST ONCE!

Get a Quote-A-Day! Free!
Liberty Quotes sent to your mail box.
Email: