freedom-of-thought

Link	Quote	Tags	Author
300a22f	I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.	evelyn-beatrice-hall misattributed-to-voltaire freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought	S.G. Tallentyre
ecf524b	It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.	heresy freedom-of-thought	Voltaire
7fc52fe	The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.	independence freedom freedom-of-thought	Joseph Heller
ec69311	When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons.	politics religion inspirational critical-thinking dogma freedom-of-thought independent-thought	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... { }	myth reason irreligion jupiter minerva virgin-birth supreme-being united-states virgin freedom-of-thought father	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.	words-of-wisdom philosophical freedom philosophy wisdom catholic-author citizens civil-liberty free-country gadfly philosophers plato socrates liberty christian freedom-of-thought thought-provoking	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 sacrosanct-ideas immunity freedom-of-speech liberty freedom-of-thought	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.	faith religion blind-faith discussion judaism doctrine disagreement shouting freedom-of-thought independent-thought jews	Iain Pears
f8f98c3	The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. That's all.	freedom-of-expression freedom-of-choice freedom-of-speech weapon freedom-of-thought weapons protest	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.	freedom inspirational beauty-in-literature freedom-of-expression freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought	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."	reading writing editing revision freedom-of-thought thought writers	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.	freedom reason education philosophy good-sense freedom-of-religion inquisition doctrine schooling rationality freedom-of-thought independent-thought persecution	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?" [	religion witch-hunts intolerance heresy orthodoxy freedom-of-thought persecution	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." --	rebellion political freedom freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought	Marjane Satrapi

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

evelyn-beatrice-hall misattributed-to-voltaire freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought

S.G. Tallentyre

ecf524b

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.

heresy freedom-of-thought

Voltaire

7fc52fe

The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.

independence freedom freedom-of-thought

Joseph Heller

ec69311

When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons.

politics religion inspirational critical-thinking dogma freedom-of-thought independent-thought

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... { }

myth reason irreligion jupiter minerva virgin-birth supreme-being united-states virgin freedom-of-thought father

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.

words-of-wisdom philosophical freedom philosophy wisdom catholic-author citizens civil-liberty free-country gadfly philosophers plato socrates liberty christian freedom-of-thought thought-provoking

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 sacrosanct-ideas immunity freedom-of-speech liberty freedom-of-thought

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.

faith religion blind-faith discussion judaism doctrine disagreement shouting freedom-of-thought independent-thought jews

Iain Pears

f8f98c3

The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. That's all.

freedom-of-expression freedom-of-choice freedom-of-speech weapon freedom-of-thought weapons protest

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.

freedom inspirational beauty-in-literature freedom-of-expression freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought

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."

reading writing editing revision freedom-of-thought thought writers

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.

freedom reason education philosophy good-sense freedom-of-religion inquisition doctrine schooling rationality freedom-of-thought independent-thought persecution

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?" [

religion witch-hunts intolerance heresy orthodoxy freedom-of-thought persecution

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." --

rebellion political freedom freedom-of-speech freedom-of-thought

Marjane Satrapi