“We have to learn that freedom imposes responsibilities”
A Path to Freedom (2010), p. 14
Context: There is no British Government anymore in Ireland. It is gone. It is no longer the enemy. We have now a native government, constitutionally elected, and it is the duty of every Irish man and woman to obey it. Anyone who fails to obey is an enemy of the people and must expect to be treated as such. We have to learn that attitudes and actions which were justifiable when directed against alien administration, holding its position by force, are wholly unjustifiable against a native government which exists only to carry out the people's will, and can be changed the moment it ceases to do so. We have to learn that freedom imposes responsibilities.
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Michael Collins (Irish leader) 9
Irish revolutionary leader 1890–1922Related quotes
Interview with David Brancaccio (2003)
Context: We are the dominant power. And that imposes on us a responsibility to be actually concerned with the well being of the world. Because we set the agenda. And there are a lot of problems, including terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, that can only be tackled by collective action. And we ought to be leading that collective action, instead of riding roughshod over other people's opinions and interests.
Source: (1962), Ch. 2 The Role of Government in a Free Society, p. 33
Theresa May condemns abuse of MPs over Brexit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42385002 BBC News (19 December 2017)
2017
“Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.”
The Official Website of the Senate of the Philippines http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2009/0228_escudero2.asp
2009, Statement: I Stand by the Side of Freedom
“Freedom, by its nature, cannot be imposed. It must be chosen.”
2000s, 2006, United Nations General Assembly speech (September 2006)
Context: Freedom, by its nature, cannot be imposed. It must be chosen. From Beirut to Baghdad, people are making the choice for freedom. And the nations gathered in this chamber must make a choice, as well: Will we support the moderates and reformers who are working for change across the Middle East—or will we yield the future to the terrorists and extremists? America has made its choice: We will stand with the moderates and reformers.
Source: Sceptical Essays
“Learning an imposed method seemed not in my nature”
Quote from his autobiography,Unfinished Journey”
Violinist Yehudi Menuhin