Quotes about freedom

A collection of quotes on the topic of freedom.

„If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there's shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.“

— Harriet Tubman African-American abolitionist and humanitarian 1820 - 1913

„The Indians were totally deprived of their freedom and were put into the harshest, fiercest, most horrible servitude and captivity which no one who has not seen it can understand. Even beasts enjoy more freedom when they are allowed to graze in the field.“

— Bartolomé de las Casas Spanish Dominican friar, historian, and social reformer 1474 - 1566
History of the Indies (1561)

Understanding

„A slave dreams of freedom, a free man dreams of wealth, the wealthy dream of power, and the powerful dream of freedom.“

— Andrzej Majewski Polish writer and photographer 1966
Aphorisms. Magnum in Parvo (2000), Niewolnik marzy o wolności, człowiek wolny o bogactwie, bogacz o władzy, a władca o wolności.

Wealth, Dreams

„If freedom is short of weapons, we must compensate with willpower.“

— Adolf Hitler Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party 1889 - 1945

„The vast power of money, mighty when you have it and even mightier when you don't, with its divine gift of freedom and the demonic fury it unleashes on those forced to do without it — they felt this as never before and were filled with bitter rage when, in the dark of the early morning, they saw the brightly lit windows and knew that those glowing gold curtains gave shelter and freedom to hundreds of thousands of people, men with women they desired, while they themselves were homeless, plodding blindly through the streets, through the rain; it was cruel as only the sea could be cruel — the sea in which a person can die of thirst.“

— Stefan Zweig, The Post Office Girl
The Post Office Girl (published posthumously in 1982)

Sea, Personality, Rage, People

„Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.“

— Hannah Arendt Jewish-American political theorist 1906 - 2004

Forgiveness

„Perhaps it was freedom itself that choked her.“

— Patricia Highsmith, The Price of Salt

Sad

„Democracy is a con game. It’s a word invented to placate people to make them accept a given institution. All institutions sing, ‘We are free.’ The minute you hear ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’, watch out… because in a truly free nation, no one has to tell you you’re free.“

— Jacque Fresco American futurist and self-described social engineer 1916 - 2017

Making love, People, Game, Singing

„The artist must elect to fight for freedom or slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative. The history of the capitalist era is characterized by the degradation of my people: despoiled of their lands, their true culture destroyed… denied equal protection of the law, and deprived their rightful place in the respect of their fellows.“

— Paul Robeson American singer and actor 1898 - 1976
As quoted in Paul Robeson, The Whole World in His Hands (1981) by Susan Robeson, p. 60

Fight, History, Law, People

„I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.“

— Rosa Parks African-American civil rights activist 1913 - 2005

World, People

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„History is at once freedom and necessity.“

— Antonio Gramsci Italian writer, politician, theorist, sociologist and linguist 1891 - 1937
Selections from the Prison Notebooks (1971).

History

„Communism… is the genuine resolution of the antagonism between man and nature and between man and man; it is the true resolution of the conflict between existence and essence, objectification and self-affirmation, freedom and necessity, individual and species. It is the riddle of history solved and knows itself as the solution.“

— Karl Marx, book Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
Paris Manuscripts (1844), Private Property and Communism, p. 43.

Nature, Communication, History

„Without criticising the liberal model, we cannot repair its faults or go beyond it. But please note that this book could have been written only when people are still relatively free to think what they like and to express themselves as they wish. If you value this book, you should also value the freedom of expression.“

— Yuval Noah Harari, book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
21 Lessons for the 21st Century

People, Books, Thinking

„Our freedom to doubt was born out of a struggle against authority in the early days of science. It was a very deep and strong struggle: permit us to question — to doubt — to not be sure. I think that it is important that we do not forget this struggle and thus perhaps lose what we have gained.“

— Richard Feynman American theoretical physicist 1918 - 1988
The Value of Science (1955), Context: The scientist has a lot of experience with ignorance and doubt and uncertainty, and this experience is of very great importance, I think. When a scientist doesn’t know the answer to a problem, he is ignorant. When he has a hunch as to what the result is, he is uncertain. And when he is pretty darn sure of what the result is going to be, he is still in some doubt. We have found it of paramount importance that in order to progress we must recognize our ignorance and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of certainty — some most unsure, some nearly sure, but none absolutely certain. Now, we scientists are used to this, and we take it for granted that it is perfectly consistent to be unsure, that it is possible to live and not know. But I don’t know whether everyone realizes this is true. Our freedom to doubt was born out of a struggle against authority in the early days of science. It was a very deep and strong struggle: permit us to question — to doubt — to not be sure. I think that it is important that we do not forget this struggle and thus perhaps lose what we have gained.

Forgetting, Science, Strong, Thinking

„There is no need to carry me to another prison. My life is already ebbing away. I suggest that you nail me to a cross and burn me alive. My flaming body will be a torch to light my people on their path to freedom.“

— Gavrilo Princip Bosnian assassin 1894 - 1918
Said to the prison warden on being moved to another prison; as quoted by Borivoje Jevtic (1914) http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/The_Assassination_of_Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand

Light, People, Life

„I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.“

— Rosa Parks African-American civil rights activist 1913 - 2005
Quoted in "Women of the Hall: Rosa Parks," http://womenshalloffame.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=117 Women's National Hall of Fame (undated); said upon her 77th birthday (1990-02-04)

Personality, Justice, People

„Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Etiam egestas wisi a erat. Morbi imperdiet, mauris ac auctor dictum.“

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