“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”

"The One Un-American Act," Speech to the Author's Guild Council in New York, on receiving the 1951 Lauterbach Award (December 3, 1952) http://ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/foryoungpeople/theoneunamerican/oneunamerican.cfm
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William O. Douglas 52
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1898–1980

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“I resolved, as I walked, to be the most dangerous one I could be. And in my mind, that meant one thing: thought. Think things through; then act. First be patient; then be brave.”

John C. Wright (1961) American novelist and technical writer

Source: Fugitives of Chaos (2006), Chapter 1, “Interlude with Amelia” (p. 28)

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“Rest and laughter are the most spiritual and subversive acts of all. Laugh, rest, slow down.”

Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist

Source: Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

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“I have believed all my life in free thought and free speech—up to and including the utmost limits of the endurable.”

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

"For the Defense Written for the Associated Press, for use in my obituary" (20 November 1940)
1940s–present
Context: Having lived all my life in a country swarming with messiahs, I have been mistaken, perhaps quite naturally, for one myself, especially by the others. It would be hard to imagine anything more preposterous. I am, in fact, the complete anti-Messiah, and detest converts almost as much as I detest missionaries. My writings, such as they are, have had only one purpose: to attain for H. L. Mencken that feeling of tension relieved and function achieved which a cow enjoys on giving milk. Further than that, I have had no interest in the matter whatsoever. It has never given me any satisfaction to encounter one who said my notions had pleased him. My preference has always been for people with notions of their own. I have believed all my life in free thought and free speech—up to and including the utmost limits of the endurable.

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“I've said that net neutrality is the most important free speech issue of our time.”

Al Franken (1951) American comedian and politician

"Net Neutrality Is Under Attack... Again" in The Huffington Post (8 November 2011) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/al-franken/net-neutrality-is-under-a_b_1082225.html
Context: I've said that net neutrality is the most important free speech issue of our time. It's true. If Republicans have their way, large corporations won't just have the loudest voices in the room. They'll be able to effectively silence everyone else. Every small business they'd prefer not to compete with. Every blogger who publishes something they don't like. We have to stop them.

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“There can be no free speech in a mob: free speech is one thing a mob can't stand.”

Northrop Frye (1912–1991) Canadian literary critic and literary theorist

"Quotes", The Educated Imagination (1963), Talk 6: The Vocation of Eloquence

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“In a free state there should be freedom of speech and thought.”
In civitate libera linguam mentemque liberas esse debere (jactabat).

Tiberius (-42–37 BC) 2nd Emperor of Ancient Rome, member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty

Variant translation: In a free state, both the tongue and the mind ought to be free.
From Suetonius, The Twelves Caesars, ch. 28

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“For those who know the value of and exquisite taste of solitary freedom (for one is only free when alone), the act of leaving is the bravest and most beautiful of all.”

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“Americans' right to free speech should not be proportionate to their bank accounts.”

Bernie Sanders (1941) American politician, senator for Vermont

2014-09-07
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The Threat to American Democracy
Politico
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/09/the-threat-to-american-democracy-110683
2010s

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