#liberty

I've always had a strong feeling for the Statue of Liberty, because it became the statue of my personal liberty. ↗

— David Antin

#became #because #feeling #had #i

Indian religion has always felt that since the minds, the temperaments and the intellectual affinities of men are unlimited in their variety, a perfect liberty of thought and of worship must be allowed to the individual in his approach to the Infinite. ↗

— Sri Aurobindo

#allowed #always #approach #felt #his

He who desires to worship God must harbor no childish illusions about the matter but bravely renounce his liberty and humanity. ↗

— Mikhail Bakunin

#bravely #childish #desires #god #harbor

Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own without bias. ↗

— Learned Hand

#liberty #philosophy #men

I believe that liberty is the only genuinely valuable thing that men have invented, at least in the field of government, in a thousand years. I believe that it is better to be free than to be not free, even when the former is dangerous and the latter safe. I believe that the finest qualities of man can flourish only in free air—that progress made under the shadow of the policeman’s club is false progress, and of no permanent value. I believe that any man who takes the liberty of another into his keeping is bound to become a tyrant, and that any man who yields up his liberty, in however slight the measure, is bound to become a slave. . . .In any dispute between a citizen and the government, it is my instinct to side with the citizen . . . I am against all efforts to make men virtuous by law. ↗

— H.L. Mencken

#men

What is wrong with inciting intense dislike of a religion if the activities or teachings of that religion are so outrageous, irrational or abusive of human rights that they deserve to be intensely disliked? ↗

— Rowan Atkinson

#cults #human-rights #liberty #logic #morality

So long as the deceit ran along quiet and monotonous, all of us let ourselves be deceived, abetting it unawares or maybe through cowardice... ↗

— William Faulkner

#cowardice

If librarianship is the connecting of people to ideas – and I believe that is the truest definition of what we do – it is crucial to remember that we must keep and make available, not just good ideas and noble ideas, but bad ideas, silly ideas, and yes, even dangerous or wicked ideas. ↗

— Graceanne A. Decandido

#liberty #librarian #librarians

I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. ↗

— John Adams

#i #liberty #mathematics #may #must

Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people. ↗

— John Adams

#cannot #general #general knowledge #knowledge #liberty