#reed

There is nothing more alluring to man than freedom of conscience, but neither is there anything more agonizing. ↗

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

#freedom

Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man's self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man. ↗

— Aung San Suu Kyi

#dictatorship #dignity #fear #freedom #human-rights

To create a new belief is easy but to understand and improve someone's concept and to develop it for good is difficult. ↗

— Vikram Roy

#freedom-of-thought #freedom

We cannot think of being acceptable to others until we have first proven acceptable to ourselves. ↗

— Malcolm X

#self-worth #freedom

Limiting the freedom of news 'just a little bit' is in the same category with the classic example 'a little bit pregnant. ↗

— Robert A. Heinlein

#freedom #news #freedom

You show me a capitalist, and I'll show you a bloodsucker ↗

— Malcolm X

#democracy #freedom #history #hope #individualism

Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood. ↗

— Susan B. Anthony

#emancipation #women #freedom

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill, of things unknown, but longed for still, and his tune is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings of freedom. ↗

— Maya Angelou

#freedom

I believe that there will be ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those who do the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the system of exploitation. I believe that there will be that kind of clash, but I don't think it will be based on the color of the skin... ↗

— Malcolm X

#exploitation #freedom #justice #malcolm-x #oppression

Free societies...are societies in motion, and with motion comes tension, dissent, friction. Free people strike sparks, and those sparks are the best evidence of freedom's existence. ↗

— Salman Rushdie

#freedom #freedom