#speech

Forgive me if what has seemed little to you, to me is all. ↗

— José Saramago

#forgiveness

Genuine bravery for a writer.... It is about calmly speaking the truth when everyone else is silenced, when the truth cannot be expressed. It is about speaking out with a different voice, risking the wrath of the state and offending everyone, for the sake of the truth, and the writer’s conscience. ↗

— Murong Xuecun

#literature #freedom

A desire for privacy does not imply shameful secrets; Moglen argues, again and again, that without anonymity in discourse, free speech is impossible, and hence also democracy. The right to speak the truth to power does not shield the speaker from the consequences of doing so; only comparable power or anonymity can do that. ↗

— Nick Harkaway

#democracy #freedom-of-speech #power #privacy #responsibilities

Actually, I am a coward. I say only what is safe to say, and I criticise only what is permissable to criticise. ↗

— Murong Xuecun

#literature #freedom

It is difficult to call myself a writer, even when I stand at a podium to receive a prize, I feel uncomfortable calling myself a writer—I am merely a word criminal. ↗

— Murong Xuecun

#literature #freedom

[I]n my own case at least I feel my professional need for freedom of speech and expression prejudices me toward a government whose constitution guarantees it. ↗

— John Updike

#free-speech #politics #united-states #united-states-constitution #war

It is depressing to have to point out, yet again, that there is a distinction between having the legal right to say something & having the moral right not to be held accountable for what you say. Being asked to apologise for saying something unconscionable is not the same as being stripped of the legal right to say it. It’s really not very f-cking complicated. Cry “free speech” in such contexts, you are demanding the right to speak any bilge you wish without apology or fear of comeback. You are demanding not legal rights but an end to debate about and criticism of what you say. When did bigotry get so needy? ↗

— China Miéville

#bigotry #freedom-of-speech #whining #freedom

Because at this time, in this place, Chinese writing exhibits symptoms of a mental disorder. ↗

— Murong Xuecun

#freedom-of-speech #freedom

He reads every book in his home but it is not enough. The country boy craves stories. He devours every poem and fable in his school and library. Still he hungers. For stories. ↗

— Jennifer Lanthier

#freedom-of-speech #journalism #prison #stamps #writing

Our Press and our schools cultivate Chauvinism, militarism, dogmatism, conformism and ignorance. The arbitrary power of the Government is unlimited, and unexampled in history; freedom of the Press, of opinion and of movement are as thoroughly exterminated as though the proclamation of the Rights of Man had never been. We have built up the most gigantic police apparatus, with informers made a national institution, and the most refined scientific system of political and mental torture. We whip the groaning masses of the country towards a theoretical future happiness, which only we can. ↗

— Arthur Koestler

#government #freedom