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Famous Quotes about Liberty
 
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If one doesn't know his mistakes, he won't want to correct them.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
What then? Shall I not follow in the footsteps of my predecessors? I shall indeed use the old road, but if I find one that makes a shorter cut and is smoother to travel, I shall open the new road. Men who have made these discoveries before us are not our masters, but our guides. Truth lies open for all; it has not yet been monopolized. And there is plenty of it left even for posterity to discover.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily?
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
For no man is free who is a slave to his body.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
But how much more highly do I think of these men! They can do these things, but decline to do them. To whom that ever tried have these tasks proved false? To what man did they not seem easier in the doing? Our lack of confidence is not the result of difficulty. The difficulty comes from our lack of confidence.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
And yet life, Lucilius, is really a battle.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Men do not care how nobly they live, but only how long, although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man's power to live long.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it. Life is long enough.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Although," said he [Cato], "all the world has fallen under one man's sway, although Caesar's legions guard the land, his fleets the sea, and Caesar's troops beset the city gates, yet Cato has a way of escape; with one single hand he will open a wide path to freedom. This sword, unstained and blameless even in civil war, shall at last do good and noble service: the freedom which it could not give to his country it shall give to Cato!
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Our minds must have relaxation: rested, they will rise up better and keener. Just as we must not force fertile fields (for uninterrupted production will quickly exhaust them), so continual labor will break the power of our minds. They will recover their strength, however, after they have had a little freedom and relaxation.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Fire tries gold, misfortune tries brave men.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
We are all chained to fortune: the chain of one is made of gold, and wide, while that of another is short and rusty. But what difference does it make? The same prison surrounds all of us, and even those who have bound others are bound themselves; unless perchance you think that a chain on the left side is lighter. Honors bind one man, wealth another; nobility oppresses some, humility others; some are held in subjection by an external power, while others obey the tyrant within; banishments keep some in one place, the priesthood others. All life is slavery. Therefore each one must accustom himself to his own condition and complain about it as little as possible, and lay hold of whatever good is to be found near him. Nothing is so bitter that a calm mind cannot find comfort in it. Small tablets, because of the writer's skill, have often served for many purposes, and a clever arrangement has often made a very narrow piece of land habitable. Apply reason to difficulties; harsh circumstances can be softened, narrow limits can be widened, and burdensome things can be made to press less severely on those who bear them cleverly.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
There is no great genius without some touch of madness.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
No one is able to rule unless he is also able to be ruled.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
The cause of anger is the belief that we are injured; this belief, therefore, should not be lightly entertained. We ought not to fly into a rage even when the injury appears to be open and distinct: for some false things bear the semblance of truth. We should always allow some time to elapse, for time discloses the truth.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Virtue runs no risk of becoming contemptible by being exposed to view, and it is better to be despised for simplicity than to be tormented by continual hypocrisy.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
That man lives badly who does not know how to die well.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Why does God afflict the best of men with ill-health, or sorrow, or other troubles? Because in the army the most hazardous services are assigned to the bravest soldiers: a general sends his choicest troops to attack the enemy in a midnight ambuscade, to reconnoitre his line of march, or to drive the hostile garrisons from their strong places. No one of these men says as he begins his march, "The general has dealt hardly with me," but "He has judged well of me."
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
A good judge condemns wrongful acts, but does not hate them.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
A large part of mankind is angry not with the sins, but with the sinners.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Should I be surprised that dangers which have always surrounded me should at last attack me? A great part of mankind, when about to sail, do not think of a storm. I shall never be ashamed of a reporter of bad news in a good cause.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Whether we believe the Greek poet, "it is sometimes even pleasant to be mad", or Plato, "he who is master of himself has knocked in vain at the doors of poetry"; or Aristotle, "no great genius was without a mixture of insanity"; the mind cannot express anything lofty and above the ordinary unless inspired.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
All savageness is a sign of weakness.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Toward good men God has the mind of a father, he cherishes for them a manly love, and he says, "Let them be harassed by toil, by suffering, by losses, in order that they may gather true strength." Bodies grown fat through sloth are weak, and not only labour, but even movement and their very weight cause them to break down. Unimpaired prosperity cannot withstand a single blow; but he who has struggled constantly with his ills becomes hardened through suffering; and yields to no misfortune; nay, even if he falls, he still fights upon his knees.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
He who receives a benefit with gratitude, repays the first installment of it.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
This is the worst trait of minds rendered arrogant by prosperity, they hate those whom they have injured.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Valor withers without adversity.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
No man expects such exact fidelity as a traitor.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
If any one is angry with you, meet his anger by returning benefits for it: a quarrel which is only taken up on one side falls to the ground: it takes two men to fight.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
I do not trust my eyes to tell me what a man is: I have a better and more trustworthy light by which I can distinguish what is true from what is false: let the mind find out what is good for the mind.
-- Lucius Annaeus Seneca		 
Tocqueville saw the brute repression of deviants as a necessity if men were to keep convincing themselves of their collective dignity through their collective sameness. The “poets of society,” the men who challenged the norms, would have to be silenced so that sameness could be maintained.
-- Richard Sennett		 
Sound money and free banking are not impossible; they are merely illegal. Freedom of money and freedom of banking...are the principles that must guide our steps.
-- Hans F. Sennholz		 
Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.
-- Dr. Seuss		 
The bigger the information media, the less courage and information they allow. Bigness means weakness.
-- Eric Sevareid		 
The merit of our Constitution was, not that it promotes democracy, but checks it.
-- Horatio Seymour		 
The idea of creating systems designed to threaten, coerce, and kill, and to imbue such agencies with principled legitimacy, and not expect them to lead to wars, genocides, and other tyrannical practices, expresses an innocence we can no longer afford to indulge.
-- Butler D. Shaffer		 
The State…has had a vested interest in promoting attitudes that would tend to make us skeptical of our own abilities, fearful of the motives of others, and emotionally dependent upon external authorities for purpose and direction in our lives.
-- Butler D. Shaffer		 
It is collectivism that is the unrealistic expression of utopian belief systems.  In its worst form -- the state -- collectivism is the institutionalized exertion of violence to compel living beings to behave contrary to their natural self-interest inclinations.  So strong are the motivations for individual preferences that the state must resort to attacks upon the very nature of life to satisfy the ambitions of those who see others as nothing more than resources to be exploited for such ends.
-- Butler D. Shaffer		 
Because we fear the responsibility for our actions, we have allowed ourselves to develop the mentality of slaves. Contrary to the stirring sentiments of the Declaration of Independence, we now pledge "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" not to one another for our mutual protection, but to the state, whose actions continue to exploit, despoil, and destroy us.
-- Butler D. Shaffer		 
Our lack of constant awareness has also permitted us to accept definitions of freedom that are not necessarily consistent with the actuality of being free. Because we have learned to confuse the word with the reality the word seeks to describe, our vocabulary has become riddled with distorted and contradictory meanings smuggled into the language.
-- Butler D. Shaffer		 
Republics are formed only after revolution. The change to the empire is slow and gradual. One of the saddest lessons of history is that whenever these schools of politics have met in the republics of old, the imperial school, with its dazzling influence of wealth and power, has always won.
-- John F. Shafroth		 
Every great historic change has been based on nonconformity, has been bought either with the blood or with the reputation of nonconformists.
-- Ben Shahn		 
The purest treasure mortal times afford Is spotless reputation.
-- William Shakespeare		 
To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
-- William Shakespeare		 
Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.
-- William Shakespeare		 
The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.
-- William Shakespeare		 
Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much. Such men are dangerous.
-- William Shakespeare		 
The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power.
-- William Shakespeare		 
No legacy is so rich as honesty.
-- William Shakespeare		 
If it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul.
-- William Shakespeare		 
To willful men, the injuries that they themselves procure must be their schoolmasters.
-- William Shakespeare		 
With devotion's visage and pious action we do sugar o'er the devil himself.
-- William Shakespeare		 
True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings; Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings.
-- William Shakespeare		 
When the mind's free, The body's delicate.
-- William Shakespeare		 
So every bondman in his own hand bear\\ The power to cancel his captivity.
-- William Shakespeare		 
True nobility is exempt from fear.
-- William Shakespeare		 
Freedom? you asking me about freedom? you asking me about freedom? I’ll be honest with you, I know a whole lot more, about what freedom isn’t than what it is ...
-- Assata Shakur		 
Liberty's view of the government could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it works, work with it. If it doesn't, work against it. If it works you over, abolish it.
-- Angel Shamaya		 
Loud speech, profusion of words, and possessing skillfulness in expounding scriptures are merely for the enjoyment of the learned. They do not lead to liberation.
-- Adi Shankaracharya		 
When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children.
-- Albert Shanker		 
It is time to admit that public education operates like a planned economy. It's a bureaucratic system where everybody's role is spelled out in advance, and there are few incentives for innovation and productivity. It's not a surprise when a school system doesn't improve. It more resembles a Communist economy than our own market economy.
-- Albert Shanker		 
The capacity of living organisms to alter their own heredity is undeniable. Our current ideas about evolution have to incorporate this basic fact of life.
-- James Shapiro		 
Cells constantly adjust their metabolism to available nutrients, control their progress through their cell cycle to make sure that all progeny are complete at the time of division, repair damage as it occurs, and interact appropriately with other cells. In a multicellular context, they even undergo programmed cell death when suicide is beneficial to the entire population or to the multicellular organism as a whole.
-- James Shapiro		 
Can you imagine working at the following Company? It has a little over 500 employees with the following statistics: 29 have been accused of spousal abuse. 7 have been arrested for fraud. 19 have been accused of writing bad checks. 117 have bankrupted at least two businesses. 3 have been arrested for assault. 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit. 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges. 8 have been arrested for shoplifting. 21 are current defendants in law suits. 84 were stopped for drunk driving in 1998 alone. Can you guess which organization this is? Give up? It's the 535 members of your United States Congress. The same group that perpetually cranks out hundreds upon hundreds of new laws designed to keep the rest of us in line.
-- Jack Sharp		 
GDP is an important metric for determining how much the United States could afford to spend on defense, but it provides no insight into how much the United States should spend. Defense planning is a matter of matching limited resources to achieve carefully scrutinized and prioritized objectives. When there are more threats, a nation spends more. When there are fewer threats, it spends less. As threats evolve, funding should evolve along with them. ... Unfortunately, setting defense spending at four percent of GDP would shield the Pentagon from careful scrutiny and curtail a much-needed transparent national debate.
-- Travis Sharp		 
In the twentieth century the number of people killed by their own governments under authoritarian regimes is four times the number killed in all this century’s wars combined.
-- John Shattuck		 
There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it.
-- George Bernard Shaw		 
You have to choose [as a voter] between trusting to the natural stability of gold and the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the Government. And, with due respect for these gentlemen, I advise you, as long as the Capitalist system lasts, to vote for gold.
-- George Bernard Shaw		 
If you do not say a thing in an irritating way, you may as well not say it at all because people will not trouble themselves about anything that does not trouble them.
-- George Bernard Shaw		 
Martyrdom is the only way a person can become famous without ability.
-- George Bernard Shaw		 
The right to know is like the right to live. It is fundamental and unconditional in its assumption that knowledge, like life, is a desirable thing.
-- George Bernard Shaw		 
The things most people want to know about are usually none of their business.
-- George Bernard Shaw		 
An election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.
-- George Bernard Shaw		 
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.
-- George Bernard Shaw		 


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