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Famous Quotes about Liberty
 
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The main characteristic of any event is that it has not been foreseen. We don’t know the future but everybody acts into the future. Nobody knows what he is doing because the future is being done, action is being done by a “we” and not an “I.” Only if I were the only one acting could I foretell the consequences of what I’m doing. What actually happens is entirely contingent, and contingency is indeed one of the biggest factors in all history. Nobody knows what is going to happen because so much depends on an enormous number of variables, on simple hazard. On the other hand if you look at history retrospectively, then, even though it was contingent, you can tell a story that makes sense…. Jewish history, for example, in fact had its ups and downs, its, enmities and its friendships, as every history of all people has. The notion that there is one unilinear history is of course false. But if you look at it after the experience of Auschwitz it looks as though all of history -- or at least history since the Middle Ages -- had no other aim than Auschwitz…. This, is the real problem of every philosophy of history how is it possible that in retrospect it always looks as though it couldn’t have happened otherwise?
-- Hannah Arendt		 
Totalitarianism begins in contempt for what you have. The second step is the notion: “Things must change—no matter how, Anything is better than what we have.” Totalitarian rulers organize this kind of mass sentiment, and by organizing it articulate it, and by articulating it make the people somehow love it. They were told before, thou shalt not kill; and they didn’t kill. Now they are told, thou shalt kill; and although they think it’s very difficult to kill, they do it because it’s now part of the code of behavior. They learn whom to kill and how to kill and how to do it together. This is the much talked about Gleichschaltung—the coordination process. You are coordinated not with the powers that be, but with your neighbor—coordinated with the majority. But instead of communicating with the other you are now glued to him. And you feel of course marvelous. Totalitarianism appeals to the very dangerous emotional needs of people who live in complete isolation and in fear of one another.
-- Hannah Arendt		 
Thus far of the leadership of the National Council of Churches of Christ in America, we have found over 100 persons in leadership capacity with either communist-front records or records of service to communist causes. The aggregate affiliations of the leadership, instead of being in the hundreds as first indicated, is now, according to the latest count, into the thousands, and we have yet to complete our check, which would certainly suggest, on the basis of authoritative sources of this committee, that the statement that there is infiltration of fellow travelers in churches and educational institutions is a complete understatement.
-- Richard Arens		 
I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.
-- Pietro Aretino		 
You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
-- Aristophanes		 
Under every stone lurks a politician.
-- Aristophanes		 
The wise learn many things from their enemies.
-- Aristophanes		 
The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.
-- Aristotle		 
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
-- Aristotle		 
If liberty and equality, as is thought by some are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.
-- Aristotle		 
He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.
-- Aristotle		 
A democracy is a government in the hands of men of low birth, no property, and vulgar employments.
-- Aristotle		 
Education is the best provision for old age.
-- Aristotle		 
Democracy arose from men thinking that if they are equal in any respect they are equal in all respects.
-- Aristotle		 
The three aims of the tyrant are, one, the humiliation of his subjects; he knows that a mean-spirited man will not conspire against anybody; two, the creation of mistrust among them; for a tyrant is not to be overthrown until men begin to have confidence in one another -- and this is the reason why tyrants are at war with the good; they are under the idea that their power is endangered by them, not only because they will not be ruled despotically, but also because they are too loyal to one another and to other men, and do not inform against one another or against other men -- three, the tyrant desires that all his subjects shall be incapable of action, for no one attempts what is impossible and they will not attempt to overthrow a tyranny if they are powerless.
-- Aristotle		 
The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.
-- Aristotle		 
It is the greatest inequality to try to make unequal things equal.
-- Aristotle		 
For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all; since armed injustice is the more dangerous, and he is equipped at birth with the arms of intelligence and with moral qualities which he may use for the worst ends.
-- Aristotle		 
Men regard it as their right to return evil for evil -- and if they cannot, feel they have lost their liberty.
-- Aristotle		 
To the size of the state there is a limit, as there is to plants, animals and implements, for none of these retain their facility when they are too large.
-- Aristotle		 
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit
-- Aristotle (False)		 
Both Oligarch and Tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of arms.
-- Aristotle		 
Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them.
-- Aristotle		 
What is common to many is least taken care of, for all men have greater regard for what is their own than what they possess in common with others.
-- Aristotle		 
The end of labor is to gain leisure.
-- Aristotle		 
The basis of a democratic state is liberty.
-- Aristotle		 
Man is by nature a political animal.
-- Aristotle		 
The trade of the petty usurer is hated with most reason: it makes a profit from currency itself, instead of making it from the process which currency was meant to serve. Their common characteristic is obviously their sordid avarice.
-- Aristotle		 
It makes no difference whether a good man has defrauded a bad man, or a bad man defrauded a good man, or whether a good or bad man has committed adultery: the law can look only to the amount of damage done.
-- Aristotle		 
A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious.
-- Aristotle		 
The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.
-- Aristotle		 
It is the mark of an educated man to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
-- Aristotle		 
Dignity does not come in possessing honors, but in deserving them.
-- Aristotle		 
What then, is he protected in the right to keep and thus use? Not every thing that may be useful for offense or defense, but what may properly be included or understood under the title of “arms,” taken in connection with the fact that the citizen is to keep them, as a citizen. Such, then as are found to make up the usual arms of the citizen of the country, and the use of which will properly train and render him efficient in defense of his own liberties, as well as of the State. Under this head, with a knowledge of the habits of our people, and of the arms in the use of which a soldier should be trained, we hold that the rifle, of all descriptions, the shot gun, the musket and repeater, are such arms, and that, under the Constitution, the right to keep such arms cannot be infringed or forbidden by the legislature.
-- Arkansas Supreme Court		 
The people themselves, not their government, should be trusted with spending their own money and making their own decisions.
-- Richard Armey		 
Three groups spend other people's money: children, thieves, politicians. All three need supervision.
-- Richard Armey		 
[T]he tax code has been piling up, year after year, a symbol of everything gone wrong in America, of arrogant rulers and lost freedom, just waiting for us to pick the whole thing up and heave it away. It has to happen. Free people can put up with such laws only for so long.
-- Richard Armey		 
Government is saying to the average citizen every January 1: 'For the next five months you’ll be working for us, for goals we shall determine. Is that clear? After May 5 you may look after your own needs and ambitions, but report back to us next January. Now move along.' ... If nearly half of what you make is spent by someone else, that means that half your work time is spent working for someone else. Call me a radical, but I think that comes dangerously close to being a form of indentured servitude.
-- Richard Armey		 
...[W]e insist on the principle that no danger or crisis, foreign or domestic, will be solved by Americans surrendering more of their constitutional liberties, in the foolish hope that a bigger government will provide greater security.
-- Larry P. Arnn		 
Hillsdale [College] forgoes government money in order to spare our students, faculty and administrators the bureaucratic interference that is the price of accepting federal financial support.
-- Larry P. Arnn		 
The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next.
-- Matthew Arnold		 
Believe me, it is not failing to speak out with promptitude and energy that is the matter with you; it is having nothing consistent or valuable to say.
-- Matthew Arnold		 
But each day brings its petty dust Our soon-chok'd souls to fill, And we forget because we must, And not because we will.
-- Matthew Arnold		 
It is a part of the function of “law” to give recognition to ideas representing the exact opposite of established conduct. Most of the complications arise from the necessity of pretending to do one thing, while actually doing another.
-- Thurman Arnold		 
The spectacle of a judge pouring over the picture of some nude, trying to ascertain the extent to which she arouses prurient interests, and then attempting to write an opinion which explains the difference between that nude and some other nude has elements of low comedy.
-- Thurman Arnold		 
[The US has] developed two coordinate governing classes: the one, called ‘business,' building cities, manufacturing and distributing goods, and holding complete and autocratic power over the livelihood of millions; the other, called ‘government,' concerned with preaching and exemplification of spiritual ideals, so caught in a mass of theory, that when it wished to move in a practical world it had to do so by means of a sub rosa political machine.
-- Thurman Arnold		 
If honor be your clothing, the suit will last a lifetime; but if clothing be your honor, it will soon be worn threadbare.
-- William D. Arnot		 
Why is it that millions of children who are pushouts or dropouts amount to business as usual in the public schools, while one family educating a child at home becomes a major threat to universal public education and the survival of democracy?
-- Stephen Arons		 
To those who scare peace loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: your tactics aid terrorists for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America’s enemies and pause to America’s friends.
-- John Ashcroft		 
True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others, at whatever cost.
-- Arthur Ashe		 
Reason and virtue alone can bestow liberty.
-- Anthony Ashley-Cooper		 
Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.
-- Isaac Asimov		 
If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.
-- Isaac Asimov		 
Politically popular speech has always been protected: even the Jews were free to say ‘Heil Hitler.’
-- Isaac Asimov		 
Politically popular speech has always been protected: even the Jews were free to say ‘Heil Hitler.’
-- Isaac Asimov		 
Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what's right.
-- Isaac Asimov		 
If living conditions don't stop improving in this country, we're going to run out of humble beginnings for our great men.
-- Russell P. Askue		 
What a pity, when Christopher Columbus discovered America, that he ever mentioned it.
-- Margot Asquith		 
'Parent choice' proceeds from the belief that the purpose of education is to provide individual students with an education. In fact, educating the individual is but a means to the true end of education, which is to create a viable social order to which individuals contribute and by which they are sustained. 'Family choice' is, therefore, basically selfish and anti-social in that it focuses on the 'wants' of a single family rather than the 'needs' of society.
-- Association of California School Administrators		 
The Earth is degenerating today. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching.
-- Assyrian Tablet		 
Truth always originates in a minority of one, and every custom begins as a broken precedent.
-- Nancy Astor		 
1. Our military is supposed to be a means to an end: national security.  Due to its immense size and colossal budget, has our military not become an end as well as a means? 2. In World War II, Americans could explain “Why We Fight” in part because the government provided a clear and compelling rationale for war.  Why are the goals of today’s wars so opaque to most Americans? 3. If our military provides us with our way of “nation building” abroad, won’t countries and peoples be more likely to copy our military ways and weaponry than our democratic teachings?  4. America is facing painful budgetary belt tightening.  Why is the military immune? 5. Why does “support our troops” seemingly end when they leave the service, leading us to tolerate such inequities as an unemployment rate of 21% for young veterans?
-- William J. Astore		 
When it comes to our nation's military affairs, ignorance is not bliss.  What's remarkable then, given the permanent state of war in which we find ourselves, is how many Americans seem content not to know.
-- William J. Astore		 
It's true that the world is a dangerous place. The problem is that the Pentagon is part of that danger. Our military has grown so strong and so dominates our government, including its foreign policy and even aspects of our culture, that there's no effective counterweight to its closeted, conflict-centered style of thinking.
-- William J. Astore		 
If some people had wings and others didn't, and the government wanted to enforce "fairness," soon no one would have wings. Because wings cannot be redistributed, they can only be broken. Likewise, a government edict cannot make people smarter or more capable, but it can impede the growth of those with the potential. Wouldn't it be fair if, in the name of equality, we scar the beautiful, cripple the athletes, lobotomize the scientists, blind the artists, and sever the hands of the musicians? Why not?
-- Oleg Atbashian		 
Democracy means government by discussion, but it is only effective if you can stop people talking.
-- Clement Atlee		 
The use of “religion” as an excuse to repress the freedom of expression and to deny human rights is not confined to any country or time.
-- Margaret Atwood		 
Political history is far too criminal and pathological to be a fit subject of study for the young. Children should acquire their heroes and villains from fiction.
-- W. H. Auden		 
Liberty is from God; liberties, from the devil.
-- Berthold Auerbach		 
Near our vineyard there was a pear tree laden with fruit that was not attractive in either flavor or form. One night, when I [at the age of sixteen] had played until dark on the sandlot with some other juvenile delinquents, we went to shake that tree and carry off its fruit. From it we carried off huge loads, not to feast on, but to throw to the pigs, although we did eat a few ourselves. We did it just because it was forbidden.
-- Saint Augustine		 
An apt and true reply was given to Alexander the Great by a pirate who had been seized. For when that king had asked the man what he meant by keeping hostile possession of the sea, he answered with bold pride. “What thou meanest by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, whilst thou who dost it with a great fleet art styled emperor.”
-- Saint Augustine		 
Give me chastity and self-restraint, but do not give it yet.
-- Saint Augustine		 
Though defensive violence will always be 'a sad necessity' in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men.
-- St. Augustine		 
Put no faith in salvation through the political order.
-- Augustine of Hippo		 
I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.
-- Caesar Augustus		 


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