“Freedom of expression gives the essential democratic opportunity, but self-restraint is the essential civic discipline.”

—  Charles Evans Hughes

As quoted in Charles Evans Hughes (1951) by Merlo J. Pusey, Vol. II, p. 794
Context: We still proclaim the old ideals of liberty but we cannot voice them without anxiety in our hearts. The question is no longer one of establishing democratic institutions but of preserving them. … The arch enemies of society are those who know better but by indirection, misstatement, understatement, and slander, seek to accomplish their concealed purposes or to gain profit of some sort by misleading the public. The antidote for these poisons must be found in the sincere and courageous efforts of those who would preserve their cherished freedom by a wise and responsible use of it. Freedom of expression gives the essential democratic opportunity, but self-restraint is the essential civic discipline.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Freedom of expression gives the essential democratic opportunity, but self-restraint is the essential civic discipline." by Charles Evans Hughes?
Charles Evans Hughes photo
Charles Evans Hughes 34
American judge 1862–1948

Related quotes

Ai Weiwei photo

“Freedom of expression is a very essential condition for me to make any art. Also, it is an essential value for my life. I have to protect this right and also to fight for the possibility.”

Ai Weiwei (1957) Chinese concept artist

" Artist Ai Weiwei: China Crushes Dissenting Voices http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/11/artist-ai-weiwei-china-crushes-dissenting-voices/.," in: Fox News, June 11, 2012.
2010-, 2012

Ai Weiwei photo

“I think restrictions are an essential condition in the fight for freedom of expression. It’s also a source for any kind of creativity.”

Ai Weiwei (1957) Chinese concept artist

Solway, Diane. “Enforced Disappearance.” W Magazine, November 2011.
2010-, 2011

Newton Lee photo

“Social media amplifies both the good side and the dark side of human nature. … Notwithstanding human ignorance, freedom of expression is essential.”

Newton Lee American computer scientist

Facebook Nation: Total Information Awareness (2nd Edition), 2014

Franklin D. Roosevelt photo

“In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression”

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) 32nd President of the United States

1940s, State of the Union Address — The Four Freedoms (1941)
Context: In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants — everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor — anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.

André Maurois photo

“The truth is that, from the immense spectacle of the world, each novelists retains the one adventure which enable shim to give expression to his own essential self, just as the painter sees in nature only pictures painted in his manner.”

André Maurois (1885–1967) French writer

The Art of Writing

Cornelius Castoriadis photo

“There is no proper meaning … every expression is essentially tropic.”

Cornelius Castoriadis (1922–1997) Greek-French philosopher

Cornelius Castoriadis, The Imaginary Institution of Society, trans. Kathleen Blamey (Cambridge, Mass. 1987) p. 348 ([10.1093/camqtly/bfs004]).

David Wood photo

“Dialogue never ends not for lack of time or opportunity but for essential reasons.”

David Wood (1946) British philosopher, born 1946

Source: Philosophy At The Limit (1990), Chapter 7, Vigilance and Interruption, p. 121

Michael Foot photo

“There is nothing wrong with being a Marxist. Their point of view is essential to a democratic debate”

Michael Foot (1913–2010) British politician

The Daily Telegraph, 1977
1970s

Leonard Nimoy photo

“I considered acting an opportunity to express emotions—and I took advantage of every opportunity l got. It took me a long time to discover that restraint can be admirable. Restraint, however, does not mean lack of emotion. The thing that irks me is lack of emotion trying to pass for restraint. Lack of emotion is pathological; restraint is civilized.”

Leonard Nimoy (1931–2015) American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer

"Leonard Nimoy's Confessions About His Emotions", TV And Movie Play magazine (1967)

“The difference between a stable society and an unstable one is that the restraints in an unstable one are external. In a stable society government ultimately becomes unnecessary; the restraints on people's actions are internal, they're self-disciplined…”

Carroll Quigley (1910–1977) American historian

Oscar Iden Lecture Series, Lecture 3: "The State of Individuals" (1976)

Related topics