“Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.”

—  Louis Brandeis

Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357, 376 (1927).
Judicial opinions

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women…" by Louis Brandeis?
Louis Brandeis photo
Louis Brandeis 45
American Supreme Court Justice 1856–1941

Related quotes

Mark Twain photo

“Whenever the human race assembles to a number exceeding four, it cannot stand free speech.”

Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist

Source: Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 2 (2013), p. 442

“Rugby is a game for men with no fear of brain injury.”

Linda Smith (1958–2006) comedian

A Brief History of Timewasting, Room 101, The News Quiz

Niccolo Machiavelli photo

“Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.”

Niccolo Machiavelli book The Prince

Source: The Prince (1513), Ch. 3; Variant translation: Never do any enemy a small injury for they are like a snake which is half beaten and it will strike back the first chance it gets.

Warren Farrell photo

“After divorce, women’s biggest fear is economic deprivation; men’s biggest fear is emotional deprivation.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say (2000)

Paulo Coelho photo

“Death frees from the fear of dying”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Source: Veronika Decides to Die

H.L. Mencken photo

“Men in the mass never brook the destructive discussion of their fundamental beliefs, and that impatience is naturally most evident in those societies in which men in the mass are most influential. Democracy and free speech are not facets of one gem; democracy and free speech are eternal enemies.”

H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer

1940s–present, Introduction to Nietzsche's The Antichrist

Alice Moore Hubbard photo

“Robert Ingersoll preferred to every political and social honor the privilege of freeing humanity from the shackles of bondage and fear. He knew no holier thing than truth.”

Alice Moore Hubbard (1861–1915) American activist

Introduction.
An American Bible (1912)
Context: Robert Ingersoll preferred to every political and social honor the privilege of freeing humanity from the shackles of bondage and fear. He knew no holier thing than truth. He preferred using his own reason to receiving popular applause or approbation. His keen wit, clear brain and merciless sarcasm uncrowned the King of Superstition and made him a puppet in the court of reason.

Frederick Douglass photo

“To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman

A Plea For Free Speech in Boston (10 December 1860), as contained in Words That Changed America https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1461748917, Alex Barnett, Rowman & Littlefield (reprint, 2006), p. 156
1860s

“Most men fear getting laughed at or humiliated by a romantic prospect while most women fear rape and death.”

Gavin de Becker (1954) American engineer

Source: The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence

Roger Ebert photo

“Of what use is freedom of speech to those who fear to offend?”

Roger Ebert (1942–2013) American film critic, author, journalist, and TV presenter

Roger Ebert's Movie Home Companion (1990 Edition), p. 735

Related topics