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Link Quote Stars Tags Author
300a22f I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. evelyn-beatrice-hall freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought misattributed-to-voltaire S.G. Tallentyre
ecf524b It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong. freedom-of-thought heresy Voltaire
7fc52fe The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them. freedom freedom-of-thought independence Joseph Heller
ec69311 When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. dogma freedom-of-thought independent-thought inspirational politics religion critical-thinking Anaïs Nin
67627d9 And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter. But we may hope that the dawn of reason and freedom of thought in these United States will do away all this artificial scaffolding... { } father freedom-of-thought irreligion jupiter minerva myth reason supreme-being united-states virgin virgin-birth Thomas Jefferson
92f5b09 Thought is free. freedom-of-thought thought William Shakespeare
f2cf317 Socrates: Have you noticed on our journey how often the citizens of this new land remind each other it is a free country? Plato: I have, and think it odd they do this. Socrates: How so, Plato? Plato: It is like reminding a baker he is a baker, or a sculptor he is a sculptor. Socrates: You mean to say if someone is convinced of their trade, they have no need to be reminded. Plato: That is correct. Socrates: I agree. If these citizens were convinced of their freedom, they would not need reminders. catholic-author christian citizens civil-liberty free-country freedom freedom-of-thought gadfly liberty philosophers philosophical philosophy plato socrates thought-provoking wisdom words-of-wisdom E.A. Bucchianeri
38f8d36 "The moment you say that any idea system is sacred, whether it's a religious belief system or a secular ideology, the moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible." [ criticism freedom-of-opinion freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought immunity liberty sacrosanct-ideas Salman Rushdie
e0f708f Do you know, the only people I can have a conversation with are the Jews? At least when they quote scripture at you they are not merely repeating something some priest has babbled in their ear. They have the great merit of disagreeing with nearly everything I say. In fact, they disagree with almost everything they say themselves. And most importantly, they don't think that shouting strengthens their argument. blind-faith disagreement discussion doctrine faith freedom-of-thought independent-thought jews judaism religion shouting Iain Pears
f8f98c3 The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. That's all. freedom-of-choice freedom-of-expression freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought protest weapon weapons Martin Luther King Jr.
145ddc3 I guard my treasures: my thought, my will, my freedom. And the greatest of these is freedom. freedom-of-thought Ayn Rand
4036df0 Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound and seen in every thing. It was very present to torment me with a sense of my wretched condition. I saw nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it. It looked from every star, it smiled in every calm, breathed in every wind, and moved in every storm. beauty-in-literature freedom freedom-of-expression freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought inspirational Frederick Douglass
ee246c7 "An editor doesn't just read, he reads , and reading well is a creative, powerful act. The ancients knew this and it frightened them. Mesopotamian society, for instance, did not want great reading from its scribes, only great writing. Scribes had to submit to a curious ruse: they had to downplay their reading skills lest they antagonize their employer. The Attic poet Menander wrote: "those who can read see twice as well." Ancient autocrats did not want their subjects to see that well. Order relied on obedience, not knowledge and reflection. So even though he was paid to read as much as write messages, the scribe's title cautiously referred to writing alone ( = "to write"); and the symbol for Nisaba, the Mesopotamian goddess of scribes, was not a tablet but a stylus. In his excellent book , Alberto Manguel writes, "It was safer for a scribe to be seen not as one who interpreted information, but who merely recorded it for the public good." In their fear of readers, ancients understood something we have forgotten about the magnitude of readership. Reading breeds the power of an independent mind. When we read well, we are thinking hard for ourselves--this is the essence of freedom. It is also the essence of editing. Editors are scribes liberated to not simply record and disseminate information, but think hard about it, interpret, and ultimately, influence it." editing freedom-of-thought reading revision thought writers writing Susan Bell
8834e8c We alone, of the thousands who walk this earth, we alone in this hour are doing a work which has no purpose save that we wish to do it. freedom-of-thought pride Ayn Rand
9a4b42f Considering he was neither priest nor scholar, the young man gave sensible, thoughtful replies -- the more so, perhaps, for being untrained, for he had not learned what he should believe or should not believe. Present a statement to him in flagrant contradiction to all Christian doctrine and he could be persuaded to agree on its good sense, unless he remembered it was the sort of thing of which pyres are made for the incautious. doctrine education freedom freedom-of-religion freedom-of-thought good-sense independent-thought inquisition persecution philosophy rationality reason schooling Iain Pears
00ee58a "[H]as it really been so long since religions persecuted people, burning them as heretics, drowning them as witches, that you can't recognize religious persecution when you see it?" [ freedom-of-thought heresy intolerance orthodoxy persecution religion witch-hunts Salman Rushdie
090a7bd "The regime had understood that one person leaving her house while asking herself: "Are my trousers long enough? Is my veil in place? Can my make-up be seen? Are they going to whip me?" - No longer asks herself: "Where is my freedom of thought? Where is my freedom of speech? My life, is it livable? What's going on in the political prisons?" It's only natural! When we're afraid, we lose all sense of analysis and reflection. Our fear paralyzes us. Besides, fear has always been the driving force behind all dictators' repression. Showing your hair or putting on makeup logically became acts of rebellion." -- freedom freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought political rebellion Marjane Satrapi