“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
Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357, 376 (1927).
Judicial opinions
“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 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 (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate
Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say (2000)
“Death frees from the fear of dying”
Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist
Source: Veronika Decides to Die
H.L. Mencken (1880–1956) American journalist and writer
1940s–present, Introduction to Nietzsche's The Antichrist
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 (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 <br class="br">1860s
Gavin de Becker (1954) American engineer
Source: The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence
“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