Sometimes I get the feeling the whole world is against me, but deep down I know that’s not
true. Some smaller countries are neutral.
—Robert Orben, 2008
Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves.
—Gene Fowler, 1961
***
Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to my conscience, above
all liberties.
—John Milton, 1644
Liberty […] is the sovereignty of the individual.
—Josiah Warren, 1846
Individuality is the aim of political liberty.
—James Fenimore Cooper, 1848
The right to be left alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.
—William O. Douglas, 1952
17
A free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
—Adlai E. Stevenson, 1952
[Freedom from fear] may be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights.
—Dag Hammarskjöld, 1956
If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they to not want to
hear.
—George Orwell, 1972
***
Liberty consists in the power to do anything that does not injure others.
—French National Assembly, 1789
Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.
—Anonymous
18
I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to
write.
—Voltaire, 1770
19
17
From his dissenting opinion in the US Supreme Court.
18
This aphorism, based on a longer joke by John B. Finch (circa 1882) is sometimes misattributed
to Abraham Lincoln, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and John Stewart Mill.
19
A more popular, later (circa 1906) paraphrase of this sentence, “I disapprove of what you say,
but will defend to the death your right to say so”, belongs to Evelyn Beatrice Hall (under the pen
name Stephen G. Tallentyre).
On Society and Solitude, Liberty and Civilization
153
true. Some smaller countries are neutral.
—Robert Orben, 2008
Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves.
—Gene Fowler, 1961
***
Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to my conscience, above
all liberties.
—John Milton, 1644
Liberty […] is the sovereignty of the individual.
—Josiah Warren, 1846
Individuality is the aim of political liberty.
—James Fenimore Cooper, 1848
The right to be left alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.
—William O. Douglas, 1952
17
A free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
—Adlai E. Stevenson, 1952
[Freedom from fear] may be said to sum up the whole philosophy of human rights.
—Dag Hammarskjöld, 1956
If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they to not want to
hear.
—George Orwell, 1972
***
Liberty consists in the power to do anything that does not injure others.
—French National Assembly, 1789
Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.
—Anonymous
18
I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to
write.
—Voltaire, 1770
19
17
From his dissenting opinion in the US Supreme Court.
18
This aphorism, based on a longer joke by John B. Finch (circa 1882) is sometimes misattributed
to Abraham Lincoln, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and John Stewart Mill.
19
A more popular, later (circa 1906) paraphrase of this sentence, “I disapprove of what you say,
but will defend to the death your right to say so”, belongs to Evelyn Beatrice Hall (under the pen
name Stephen G. Tallentyre).
On Society and Solitude, Liberty and Civilization
153