Quotes about freedom (4699 quotes, page 47)

“Freedom cannot be bestowed — it must be achieved.”

Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher fue el escritor del jarron azul

Elbert Hubbard, in his essay on Booker T. Washington in Little Journeys For 1908, p. 21; Franklin D. Roosevelt later used this line on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation: "In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved".

“I think that literature, when it’s good, as opposed to journalism, gives you the freedom to be the characters, to enter into their lives, their psyche and so their experiences become, in a way, yours.”

Irene Sabatini (1967) writer from Zimbabwe

What these works of fiction have allowed me to do is to enter the pain and despair, the hope, to share in the struggles of certain characters that I have identified with (because of the artistry of the writers in making these individuals come alive).
Source: Institute of Education Alumni Life Issue 33 Summer 2010 https://www.irenesabatini.com/files/IS-Novel-Revolutionary-IOE-July-2010.pdf

Thinking , Literature , Way

“A warrior is someone who seeks freedom. Sadness is not freedom. We must snap out of it. Having a sense of detachment entails having a moment's pause to reassess situations.”

Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) Peruvian-American author

Source: The Eagle's Gift, (1981)

Sense , Sadness

“Losing the human form brings the freedom to remember your self. Losing the human form is like a spiral. It gives you the freedom to remember and this in turn makes you even freer.”

Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) Peruvian-American author

Source: The Eagle's Gift, (1981)

“Of course, when you are in office, you have certain responsibilities. But when you are out of office, you also have more freedom to express your ideas.”

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj (1963) Mongolian politician

Source: "When You Live Next to an Autocracy" in The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/12/china-democracy-mongolia/617391/ (15 December 2020)

Idea

“We thought that we are on the way to democracy, to freedom. But again, now, it collapsed again to the military and we have no right to speak about human rights and we have practically no dialogue.”

Charles Maung Bo (1948) Burmese Roman Catholic Archbishop and Cardinal

Source: Cardinal Bo: Called to be a voice for human rights in Myanmar https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248937/cardinal-bo-called-to-be-a-voice-for-human-rights-in-myanmar (9 September 2021)

Democracy , Way

“Technology is potential freedom from brutality.”

Michael Moorcock The Cornelius Quartet

The Cornelius Quartet, A Cure for Cancer (1971)
Source: Beyond the X ecliptic (p. 316)

“How can someone have the freedom to choose and the power to act freely, unless he were able to be evil, should he so wish?”

Gregory Palamas (1296–1359) Monk and archbishop

Predestination? On Why God Made Those Who Would Perish

Evil

“You can take my freedom, even my life, but not my thought, not my truth, not my contribution to the history of the people to which I belong.”

Franjo Tuđman (1922–1999) Croatian politician, soldier and president

Source: "Excerpts from his diary, written while in prison" https://www.tudjman.hr/promisljanja/ (14 August 1984)

History , People , Truth , Life

“The values of freedom and democracy upon which America was founded are the same values that once inspired my father and are the ones to which he remains dedicated. Those values are not just every American’s birthright; they are the fundamental rights of all human beings.”

Ti-Anna Wang (1989) Chinese dissident

"‘A Tale of Two Girls’" in NBC https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna52173136 (11 June 2013)

Democracy

“I felt a narrowing of freedom of speech. The change was very pronounced when you compare Xi Jinping to previous eras of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.”

Rebel Pepper (1973) Chinese political cartoonist

"Rebel with a cause: An interview with China’s most famous political cartoonist" in SAGE Journals https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306422016657031a (29 June 2016)

Change

“English government has a special claim to be studied. It developed in comparative freedom from outside interference, producing a curious blend of decentralized and popular freedom with strong, efficient, and centralized administration.”

Geoffrey Elton (1921–1994) historian

Source: Geoffrey Rudolph Elton, Tudor Revolution in Government (1953)

Study , Strong

“Freedom that socialism economic violates incentive, destroys, muffles innovation and entrepreneurship, and innovation undermines meritocracy.”

Paul D. Miller (academic) American academic

Why Socialism Is Bad (2018)

“Freedom? The word tastes bitter. What’s freedom ever done for me? Seems to me I’ve been free almost all my life, but what has it gotten me? Really?”

Charles Stross Saturn's Children

Source: Saturn's Children (2008), Chapter 15, “”Revising My Opinions” (pp. 253-254)
Context: She’s silent for only a moment. “Ask not what it’s gotten you, kid. Ask what it’s saved you from.”

Life

“Warriors speak of shamanism as a magical, mysterious bird which has paused in its flight for a moment in order to give man hope and purpose; warriors live under the wind of that bird, which they call the "bird of wisdom," the "bird of freedom."”

Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time

Source: The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe], (1998), Quotations from "The Power of Silence" (Chapter 18)

Hope , Bird , Wisdom

“The ladies of our country should be able to realise from this description the good fortune of their birth, and the extent of their freedom when compared with the position of ladies like them in other lands.”

Francisco Pelsaert (1591–1630) Dutch merchant, commander of the ship Batavia

Jahangir’s India
Source: quoted in K.S. Lal, The Mughal Harem (1988), 12

Birth , Country

“There can be no freedom if one man or one group of men... is assumed... inherently perfect or perfectible. Its claim to perfection or perfectibility is a claim to absolute rule.”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Source: 1930s- 1950s, The Future of Industrial Man (1942), p. 122

Perfection , Men

“[T]he Western European democracies... will be forced into totalitarianism unless they produce a noneconomic society striving for the freedom and equality of the individual.”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Source: 1930s- 1950s, The End of Economic Man (1939), p. 242

Democracy

“[J]ustification of power must be the central problem. For it is through this problem alone that freedom and equality—or... justice—can be projected into the social and political reality... But to fascism the problem does not even exist except as a ridiculous relic of "Jewish liberalism."”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant

Source: 1930s- 1950s, The End of Economic Man (1939), p. 15

Justice , Problem , Reality

“Whenever you can, act as a liberator. Freedom, dignity, wealth — these three together constitute the greatest happiness of humanity. If you bequeath all three to your people, their love for you will never die.”

Cyrus the Great (-600–-530 BC) King and founder of the Achaemenid Empire

Source: In Xenophon's Cyrus the Great: The Arts of Leadership and War https://books.google.com/books?id=w-WNO_TOgOQC&dq=Xenophon%27s%20Cyrus%20the%20Great%3A%20The%20Arts%20of%20Leadership%20and%20War&hl=fr&source=gbs_book_other_versions (2006) p. 116, also quoted in "9 Timeless Leadership Lessons from Cyrus the Great" http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanholiday/2012/04/19/9-timeless-leadership-lessons-from-cyrus-the-great/ at Forbes.com (19 April 2012)

Wealth , Happiness , People , Love

“When I was 13, I told my parents I didn’t believe in God any more. I wanted to be an atheist because I believed that religion should be about community and having a place to go in prayer, not something that should determine women’s freedoms.”

Elizabeth Olsen (1989) American actress

Source: Ryder, Caroline. "Elizabeth Olsen cover interview for Dazed&Confused" https://www.carolineryder.com/carolineryder/2013/09/elizabeth-olsen-cover-interview-for.html. (September 2, 2013).

God , Communication , Religion , Parent

“Let there be freedom from perturbations with respect to the things which come from the external cause; and let there be justice in the things done by virtue of the internal cause, that is, let there be movement and action terminating in this, in social acts, for this is according to thy nature.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

Source: Meditations (c. AD 121–180), Book IX, 31

Justice , Nature

“I was stuck in their cycle of poverty under their failed policies and I busted out, and glory to God, I am never going back and taking the same message of freedom to everybody.”

Lauren Boebert (1986) American politician

Source: Lauren Boebert: 2020 Election Is a Choice Between ‘Freedom’ and ‘Government Control’ https://www.breitbart.com/radio/2020/08/14/lauren-boebert-2020-election-is-choice-between-freedom-government-control/ (14 August 2020)

God

“Freedom is exercising your rights, getting an education without the fear of sexual harassment.”

Kiki Mordi (1991) Nkiru "Kiki" Mordi is a Nigerian investigative journalist, media personality, filmmaker,writer and entrepreneur.

Source: https://quotes.ng/mobile/author.php?title=kiki-mordi&id=1159 Kiki Mordi speaking on equality.

Education , Fear , Exercises

“Freedom from lower qualities is an essential qualification required for spiritual progress.”

Abu Sa'id Abu'l-Khayr (967–1049) poet

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 95

“We hope and pray so that the political situation becomes clearer, to have better balance on behalf of the institutions on this delicate subject, in matters of faith and freedom of religious minorities.”

Murphy Pakiam (1938) Catholic archbishop

Source: The Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur: "On the word Allah, a politicized case: the term will continue to be used in liturgies" http://www.fides.org/en/news/34489-ASIA_MALAYSIA_The_Archbishop_of_Kuala_Lumpur_On_the_word_Allah_a_politicized_case_the_term_will_continue_to_be_used_in_liturgies (14 October 2013)

Faith , Hope

“I will defend my right to confess my faith, so that no one else would be deprived of their right to freedom of religion and speech. I hold to the view that my expressions are legal, and they should not be censored. I will not back down from my views. I will not be intimidated into hiding my faith.”

Päivi Räsänen (1959) Finnish politician

Source: The Persecution of a Finnish Parliamentarian https://www.ncregister.com/news/the-persecution-of-a-finnish-parliamentarian (December 15, 2020)

Faith , Religion

“Freedom does not exist partially, if I don't have the freedom of opinion or expression regarding whoever, then there's certainly no actual freedom”

Angelo Vulpini (2003) Venezuelan recording artist

Source: Posted on @angelovulpini, Instagram (June 3, 2019)

“Freedom is more important than what the DPS (Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro) and those who are with it offer.”

Zdravko Krivokapić (1958) Montenegrin politician and professor

Source: Zdravko Krivokapić (2021) cited in: " Montenegro’s opposition pulls no-confidence motion against government https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/short_news/montenegros-opposition-pulls-no-confidence-motion-against-government/" in Euractiv, 14 December 2021.

“You simply disobey. Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely. But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don’t. We disobey the social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom.”

Charlton Heston (1923–2008) American actor

Winning the Cultural War (1999)
Source: https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/charltonhestonculturalwar.htm 16 February 1999

Personality , Thinking

“We said no to communism. We said no to apartheid. We said no to injustice. We said no to oppression. And we said yes to freedom, yes to democracy. Now I ask you: What do we say to war? CROWD: No!”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

February 15, 2003 speaking before a massive rally in New York to oppose the imminent U.S. invasion of Iraq
Source: As quoted in Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) on Apartheid, War, Palestine, Guantánamo, Climate Crisis & More https://www.democracynow.org/2021/12/27/life_and_legacy_archbishop_desmond_tutu, Democracy Now!, December 27, 2021

Democracy , War , Communication

“People marched and demonstrated, and the Berlin Wall fell, and communism was ended. People marched and demonstrated, and apartheid ended. And democracy and freedom were born. And now people are marching, and people are demonstrating, because people are saying no to war!”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

Democracy , War , People , Communication

“Those men and women are fortunate who are born at a time when a great struggle for human freedom is in progress. It is an added good fortune to have parents who take a personal part in the great movements of their time. I am glad and thankful that this was my case.”

Emmeline Pankhurst book My Own Story

My Own Story (1914), Ch 1

Personality , Time , Parent , Parting

“When self-willed microunits combine to form and sustain a durable macrounit, certain freedoms of action are curtailed.
This is the basic process of Organization.
The more numerous and erratic the microunits, the more complex must be the structure and function of the macrounit—hence the more pervasive and restricting the details of Organization.”

Jack Vance (1916–2013) American mystery and speculative fiction writer

Dodkin’s Job (p. 7)
Short fiction, Future Tense (1964)

“Freedom only for the members of the government, only for the members of the Party — though they are quite numerous — is no freedom at all. Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters. The essence of political freedom depends not on the fanatics of 'justice', but rather on all the invigorating, beneficial, and detergent effects of dissenters. If 'freedom' becomes 'privilege', the workings of political freedom are broken.”

Rosa Luxemburg (1871–1919) Polish Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary

Die russische Revolution. Eine kritische Würdigung (1920) p. 109
This contains probably her most famous statement: Freiheit ist immer die Freiheit der Andersdenkenden, translated as "Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters."
Literally: Freedom is always the freedom of those who think differently.

Dependency , Justice

“That all lawful power derives from the people and must be held in check to preserve their freedom is the oldest and central tenet of American constitutionalism. ...[I]t was believed that personal freedom could be secured more effectively by decentralization than by express command.”

Laurence Tribe (1941) American lawyer and law school professor

Source: American Constitutional Law (1978), Approaches to Constituitonal Analysis

Personality , People , Law

“You now have access to a global talent pool eager to maintain their freedom. Employees can travel the world while still maintaining a full-time job and not have to wait until they retire to enjoy life.”

Jay Samit (1961) American businessman

Future Proofing You (2021)

World , Time , Waiting , Travel

“The freedom is a tear digging into the flesh.”

Doina Ruști (1957) Romanian Writer

Source: The Phanariot Manuscript https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuscrisul_fanariot

Tear

“To know and have it all is about individuality because each one has the right not to live under the mercy of anyone with more power. So, for freedom and protection, one desires to know and have it all, but the questions remain.”

Zaman Ali (1993) Pakistani philosopher

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/11104151-to-know-and-have-it-all-is-about-individuality-because

Question

“And now, gentlemen, what is the condition of the great body of the people? In the first place, gentlemen, they have for centuries been in the full enjoyment of that which no other country in Europe has ever completely attained—complete rights of personal freedom.”

Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister

Source: Speech to the Conservatives of Manchester (3 April 1872), quoted in Selected Speeches of the Late Right Honourable the Earl of Beaconsfield, Volume II, ed. T. E. Kebbel (1882), p. 507

Personality , People , Country

“We desire to see the return of a liberal age where Parliaments will guard freedom, where science will open the banqueting halls to the millions, and where what Bismarck once called "practical Christianity" will mitigate suffering and misfortunes.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Source: 'No Intervention In Spain' (8 January 1937), quoted in Winston Churchill, Step by Step, 1936–1939 (1939; 1947), p. 84

Suffering , Age , Science

“Freedom of expression is one of the foundations of our society. Everyone is free to express their opinion. But our society will never accept indiscriminate violence, and even less towards our police forces.”

Alexander De Croo (1975) Belgian politician

Source: Alexander De Croo (2022) cited in: " Clashes as tens of thousands protest Covid rules in Belgium https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2022/01/24/clashes-as-tens-of-thousands-protest-covid-rules-in-belgium/2037074" in Malay Mail, 24 January 2022.

“Civilization.…
Like everything else, it has a price. The down payment is freedom. For the privilege of living together, men surrender the right to do as they please; they make laws and restrict themselves within them.
When civilization is conferred from outside, the price is even steeper: someone else makes the laws.”

Jack Williamson book Star Bridge

Source: Star Bridge (1955), “The History,” prelude to Chapter 3, “The Narrow Bridge” (p. 37)

Law , Men

“How can Christian theology truly speak of the hope of Jesus Christ, unless that hope begins and ends with the liberation of the poor in the social existence in which theology takes shape? In America this means that there can be no talk about hope in the Christian sense unless it is talk about the freedom of black, red, and brown people.”

James H. Cone (1938–2018) American theologian

Source: God of the Oppressed (1975, 1997), p. 128 (1975 edition)

People , Hope , Christ , Sense

“The dialectic between the social situation of the believer and Scripture and the traditions of the Church is the place to begin the investigation of the question, Who is Jesus Christ for us today? Social context, Scripture, and tradition operate together to enable the people of God to move actively and reflectively with Christ in the struggle of freedom.”

James H. Cone (1938–2018) American theologian

Source: God of the Oppressed (1975, 1997), p. 115 (1975 edition)

God , People , Question , Christ

“Religious faith and its practice cannot be taken for granted and we must be resolved in our defense of our cherished freedom to practice our faith, especially in the context of a secular culture which many times is opposed to its basic beliefs. History has witnessed many instances of blatant disregard for religious liberty which has resulted in devastating persecution.”

Gerald Barbarito (1950) Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach, Florida

Source: This 'Fortnight for Freedom' https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/column/52207/this-fortnight-for-freedom (28 June 2012)

History , Faith , Time

“[T]he main work of life lies in carrying on worthily the great common task of civilization: to play one's due part in the enterprise of feeding some hundreds of millions of men, in seeing that they are protected against violence and fraud, that they have access to justice, and as far as may be to education, that they have some freedom to pursue life and happiness, and are not cut off altogether from the wonders and beauties of the world and the mind of man. To succeed in doing this is civilization: to fail is the defeat of civilization. For civilization is, ultimately, the process whereby a human society in search, as Aristotle puts it, of a "good life for man", gradually overcomes the obstacles, material and other, that stand in its way and makes man increasingly master of his environment.”

Gilbert Murray (1866–1957) Anglo-Australian scholar

1920s, The Ordeal of This Generation: The War, the League and the Future (1929)
Source: "Peace and Strife as Elements in Life: The Ideal of “Unhindered Activity”", pp. 37-38

Search , Fraud , Life , Men

“For your art, always aim high and break the rules. To be able to realize, one must love the freedom to create.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Per la tua arte, punta sempre in alto e infrangi le regole. Per poter realizzare, bisogna amare la libertà di creare.
Source: prevale.net

Art , Love

“Let us put our democratic freedom to delight use!”

Divya S. Iyer (1984) Indian bureaucrat

Source: Quoted in Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/DSIyer/status/764818623068270593

“By the end of it, I had finally begun to grasp something that should have been immediately apparent: that someone had opposed the great march toward equality; someone had been the person from whom freedom had to be wrested.”

Tara Westover book Educated

Source: Educated (2018), Chapter 20, “Recitals of the Fathers” (p. 180; the reference is to the Civil Rights Movement)

Personality

“As a retired clergyman, I'm still a priest. I have much more freedom than I had, but I haven't had much more free time.”

John George Vlazny (1937) Catholic archbishop

Source: What does an archbishop do when he retires? https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-cardinal-george-retirement-plan-met-20141125-story.html (25 November 2014)

Time

“I feel so sad. We begged you to stop amplifying and normalising hatred and racism. But you told us we were 'politically correct' and 'freedom of speech' was more important. The more you gave the far-right a platform, the more powerful they got. We begged you.”

Osman Faruqi pakistan-born Australian political journalist

Source: 14 March 2019 https://twitter.com/oz_f/status/1106419337567428608

Sadness , Feeling

“A person's conscience struggles for genuine freedom in defiance of all prohibitions.”

Zafar Mirzo (1972)

Personality

“Freedom can never be found by the use of a foreign force.”

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

Opposing the annexation of Belgium, 5th February 1793. Robespierre, Oeuvres, v. 270
Misc Quotes

“For the sake of our offspring,
we will keep fighting for the Freedom and Justice as long as we can still breathe.”

Kazeronnie Mak

Justice , Fight

“Freedom of speech cannot be a reason to incite racial or cultural discrimination and tear society apart. We hope Sweden can earnestly respect the religious beliefs of minority groups, including Muslims.”

Wang Wenbin (1971) Chinese diplomat

Wang Wenbin (2022) cited in " Respect religious beliefs of Muslims, China tells Sweden https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220420-respect-religious-beliefs-of-muslims-china-tells-sweden/" on Middle East Monitor, 20 April 2022.

Hope , Tear

“We are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom — that we’re on a frontier of freedom, and that your fight is a fight for everyone. And so our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done.”

Nancy Pelosi (1940) American politician, first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, born 1940

Remarks to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, quoted in "Pelosi makes unannounced trip to Kyiv, becoming highest-ranking US official to meet with Zelensky since the war began" by Michelle Watson and Eliza Mackintosh, CNN https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/01/politics/pelosi-zelensky-kyiv-ukraine-intl/index.html] (1 May 2022)]; also in "Pelosi meets Zelenskyy in Ukraine, says commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done'", Global News (1 May 2022) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga34dmkMwBU

Fight

“If you are genuinely interested in press freedom, you should support actions against people who have unlawfully exploited the media as a tool to pursue their political or personal gains.”

John Lee Ka-chiu (1957) Chief Executive-elect of Hong Kong

"Who is John Lee? 12 quotes from Hong Kong’s unopposed leadership hopeful" in Hong Kong Free Press https://hongkongfp.com/2022/04/18/who-is-john-lee-12-quotes-from-hong-kongs-unopposed-leadership-hopeful/ (18 April 2022)

Support , Personality , People

“We Germans have learned from history. We are a peace-loving, freedom-loving people. For us, love of our native country, love of freedom, and the spirit of being a good neighbor always belong together.”

Helmut Kohl (1930–2017) former chancellor of West Germany (1982-1990) and then the united Germany (1990-1998)

As quoted in "Kohl: German chancellor, European statesman" https://www.dw.com/en/kohl-german-chancellor-european-statesman/a-16274982 (October 1, 2012), Deutsche Welle

Peace , History , Country , People

“Things like freedom and liberty and constitutional protection and unalienable rights that are beyond the scope of government. Those type of things are the only things that will help us deal with some of the division in our country.”

Jody Hice (1960) Georgia Republican Congressman

Congressman Jody Hice: Religious Liberty and Good Business are Benefits of Republican Majority https://merionwest.com/2018/03/29/congressman-jody-hice-religious-liberty-and-good-business-are-benefits-of-republican-majority/ (29 March 2018)

Country , Help

“Whoever will be free must make himself free. Freedom is no fairy gift to fall into a man's lap. What is freedom? To have the will to be responsible for one's self.”

Max Stirner (1806–1856) German philosopher

Attributed in Forbes Vol 38 Iss. 2 (1936) p. 18, and in Lifetime Speaker's Encyclopedia (1962) by Jacob Morton Braude, p. 275

“There is a lot of pressure on the players in the Chinese team. I wouldn’t have survived if I had stayed there. Right now, I have the freedom to choose which tournaments to play and where to train. I take decisions that suit me.”

Beiwen Zhang (1990) badminton player

"Well-travelled Beiwen Zhang plays on her own terms" in The Indian Express https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/badminton/well-travelled-beiwen-zhang-plays-on-her-own-terms-5046843/ (1 February 2018)

Training , Decision

“[...] one must be cautious in assessing the political significance of the relative freedom from repression — at least for the privileged — in the United States. Exactly what does it mean, concretely?”

Noam Chomsky book Language and Responsibility

Quotes 1950s–1980s, 1970s, Language and Responsibility, Pantheon, 1977

“There is such a thing as the freedom of exhaustion. Some people are so worn down by the yoke of oppression that they give up. A few years ago in the slum areas of Atlanta, a Negro guitarist used to sing almost daily: "Been down so long that down don't bother me." This is the type of negative freedom and resignation that often engulfs the life of the oppressed.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1950s, Three Ways of Meeting Oppression (1958)

People , Singing , Life

“Freedom only comes through persistent revolt, through persistent agitation, through persistently rising up against the system of evil.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1950s, The Birth of a New Nation (1957)

Evil

“I joke that it took our family 100 years to travel one mile. But what a journey it has been. Our family story is the story of millions of families whose ancestors came to these shores from all around the world in search of freedom, opportunity, and equality.”

Gary Locke (1950) American politician

"Gary Locke keynotes anti-hate summit" in Northwest Asian Weekly https://nwasianweekly.com/2021/10/gary-locke-keynotes-anti-hate-summit/ (29 October 2021)

Search , World , Family , Travel

“The virus of hate threatens our safety, our institutions, our democracy, our freedoms, and not least, our common humanity. Let us commit ourselves to working together for a more peaceful, just, and loving world.”

Gary Locke (1950) American politician

"Gary Locke keynotes anti-hate summit" in Northwest Asian Weekly https://nwasianweekly.com/2021/10/gary-locke-keynotes-anti-hate-summit/ (29 October 2021)

Democracy , Hate , World , Peace

“None of us want conflict. We want peace and stability. But nor do we want the very world order that underpins our freedoms to be eroded for fear of giving offence, in the vain hope that concessions will ameliorate the determination of those who seek to intimidate and coerce.”

Scott Morrison (1968) 30th Prime Minister of Australia

"An Address by Prime Minister Scott Morrison" https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/address-prime-minister-scott-morrison (7 March 2022)

Peace , Hope , World , Fear

“So this, in a nutshell, was my Enlightenment: free inquiry, universal education, individual freedom, the outlawing of private violence, and the protection of individual property rights.”

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969) Dutch feminist, author

Source: 2010s, Nomad: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations (2010), Chapter 14, “Opening the Muslim Mind: An Enlightenment Mind” (p. 212)

Universe , Education

“Here in Boston, in Massachusetts, we will do what we do best: We will fight back, fiercely—for our freedoms and for each other. This moment does not belong to the far right. It belongs to us, like our bodies. And we decide what to do with it.”

Michelle Wu (1985) City Councilor in Boston, Massachusetts

24 June 2022 "Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says overturning Roe v. Wade will 'ruin lives'" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrmQGDRoWCY

Fight

“Justice for all means reproductive justice, gender justice, queer justice. Liberty for all means the all-inclusive freedoms that guarantee every person agency over their own body.”

Michelle Wu (1985) City Councilor in Boston, Massachusetts

24 June 2022 "Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says overturning Roe v. Wade will 'ruin lives'" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrmQGDRoWCY

Justice , Personality

“Master and slave wear the yoke together. Anarchy is the only true freedom.”

Kim Stanley Robinson book Green Mars

Source: Green Mars (1993), Chapter 1, “Areoformation” (p. 35)

“Whether you deserve something was never in question. You deserve it all. That is given in your very existence. The universe wants you to succeed and wants you to experience abundance, freedom and joy. It is simply not the kind of universe that treats you as if you are incapable of creating those things yourself. And this means that it loves you more than you want it to sometimes!”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

Source: tealswan.com/quotes

Universe , Question , Joy , Love

“It is absolutely clear to everyone that the reasons for such a disastrous war as we have endured for seven years now have nothing to do with the demand for democracy or freedom. They have much more to do with a dirty game of world economics.”

Joseph Tobji (1971) archeparch of Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo

“If it weren‘t for the Church, we‘d be dead by now” https://acninternational.org/werent-church-wed-dead-now/ (6 February 2018)

Democracy , War , Game , World

“Freedom is based on the anarch’s awareness that he can kill himself. He carries this awareness around; it accompanies him like a shadow that he can conjure up. “A leap from this bridge will set me free.””

Ernst Jünger book Eumeswil

Eumeswil (1977)

“The special trait making me an anarch is that I live in a world which I ‘ultimately’ do not take seriously. This increases my freedom; I serve as a temporary volunteer.”

Ernst Jünger book Eumeswil

Eumeswil (1977)

World

“Today only the person who no longer believes in a happy ending, only he who has consciously renounced it, is able to live. A happy century does not exist; but there are moments of happiness, and there is freedom in the moment.”

Ernst Jünger book The Glass Bees

The Glass Bees (1957)

Personality , Happiness

“Media freedom plays an indispensable role in informing the public, holding governments accountable, and telling stories that otherwise would not be told. The U.S. will continue to stand up for the brave and necessary work of journalists around the world.”

Antony Blinken (1962) American government official and 71th U.S. Secretary of State

Quoted in British Court Trusts US to Protect Assange Even Though CIA Plotted to Kill Him https://truthout.org/articles/british-court-trusts-us-to-protect-assange-even-though-cia-plotted-to-kill-him/, Marjorie Cohn, Truthout (15 December 2021)

World

“The regime’s brutality and repression of the Syrian people, who have called for freedom and a representative government, not only endangers the Syrian people themselves, but also generates instability throughout the region.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to the Actions of the Government of Syria https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/05/09/letter-to-the-speaker-of-the-house-of-representatives-and-the-president-of-the-senate-on-the-continuation-of-the-national-emergency-with-respect-to-the-actions-of-the-government-of-syria-2/
2022, May 2022

People

“The Women of Cumann na mBan

The struggle is a-fading
Drifting to history
Yet the importance of these women
Does not need persuading

In Belfast was Winnie Carney
Who worked for freedom’s gain
She was a trade unionist in Dublin
When Connolly was slain

Travelling the country
Was Bloxham from May-o
A magnificent orator
Her resignation was blow

We must mention Jen Wyse-Power
Once the president
She supported the Treaty
Which made everyone sour

It was the great Sorcha MacMahon
Moving to-and-from the Four Courts
Fundraising for dependants
And arranging the transports

Do not forget Maud Mitchell
The first Captain of the Midlands
The executive’s fine beauty
In Cork she gave commands

Of course, there was Maud Gonne
And Countess Markievicz
For many years great warriors
'Til on parliament they split

After many hours of conflict
Settles does the dust
Yet the ideals of these women
Carry on they must”

Unknown author

Dependency , History , Country , Support

“On the Death of Jim Larkin

Not with public words now can his greatness
Be told to the children, for he was more
Than a labour-agitating orator —
The flashing flaming sword merely bore witness
To the coming of the dawn. ‘Awake and look!
The flowers are growing for you, and wonderful trees,
And beyond are not the serf’s grey docks, but seas —
Excitement out of the creator’s poetry book.

When the Full Moon’s in the River the ghost of bread
Must not haunt all your weary wanderings home.
The ships that were dark galleys can become
Pine forests under the winter’s starry plough
And the brown gantries will be the lifted hand
Of man the dreamer whom the gods endow.’

And thus I hear Jim Larkin shout above
The crowd who wanted him to turn aside
From Reality coming to free them. Terrified
They hid in the clouds of dope and would not move.
They ate the opium of the murderer’s story
In the Sunday newspapers; they stood to stare
Not at a blackbird, but at a millionaire
Whose horses ran for serfdom’s greater glory.

And Tyranny trampled them in Dublin’s gutter,
Until Larkin came along and cried
The call of Freedom and the call of Pride,
And Slavery crept to its hands and knees,
And Nineteen Thirteen cheered from out the utter
Degradation of their miseries.”

Patrick Kavanagh (1904–1967) poet

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND1NCf1ZRFM

Sea , Death , God , Children

“It was not the freedom of imagination that pushed me to go beyond the boundaries of what my humanity meant. Rather it is reality itself which affirms that I am nothing less than an ordinary human being. In other words, as freely as birds fly in the sky, at one time they need reality as a place to stand on.”

Titon Rahmawan

#Imagination and reality

Imagination , Flying , Time , Bird

“To the intellectual the struggle for freedom is more vital than the actuality of a free society. He would rather "work, fight, talk, for liberty than have it."”

Eric Hoffer (1898–1983) American philosopher

Source: The Ordeal of Change (1963), Ch. 12: "Concerning Individual Freedom". [In this passage "work, fight, talk, for liberty than have it" is a quotation of Lincoln Steffens from The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens (1931), p. 635]

Fight