WIST Quotations

Obama, Barack -- Speech, Nordea Concert Hall, Tallinn, Estonia (3 Sep 2014)

Dave — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 22:37:48 +0000

We’re stronger because we’re democracies. We’re not afraid of free and fair elections, because true legitimacy can only come from one source — and that is the people. We’re not afraid of an independent judiciary, because no one is above the law. We’re not afraid of a free press or vibrant debate or a strong civil society, because leaders must be held accountable. We’re not afraid to let our young people go online to learn and discover and organize , because we know that countries are more successful when citizens are free to think for themselves.

Barack Obama (b. 1961) American politician, US President (2009–2017)
Speech, Nordea Concert Hall, Tallinn, Estonia (3 Sep 2014)

Commager, Henry Steele -- Essay (1947-09), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 3, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168

Dave — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 15:25:55 +0000

Who are those who are really disloyal? Those who inflame racial hatreds, who sow religious and class dissensions. Those who subvert the Constitution by violating the freedom of the ballot box. Those who make a mockery of majority rule by the use of the filibuster. Those who impair democracy by denying equal educational facilities. Those who frustrate justice by lynch law or by making a farce of jury trials. Those who deny freedom of speech and of the press and of assembly. Those who press for special favors against the interest of the commonwealth. Those who regard public office as a source of private gain. Those who would exalt the military over the civil. Those who for selfish and private purposes stir up national antagonisms and expose the world to the ruin of war.

Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-09), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 3, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168

Regarding disloyalty tests and loyalty oaths. Reprinted in Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent (1954).

Commager, Henry Steele -- Letter (1971-06-17) to the Editor, New York Times

Dave — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 15:27:20 +0000

The Bill of Rights was not written into the Constitution in order to protect governments from “trouble,” but so that the people might have a legitimate method of causing trouble to governments they no longer trusted.

Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist
Letter (1971-06-17) to the Editor, New York Times

In reply to the criticism by Secretary of State William Rogers that publication of the Pentagon Papers by the New York Times "is going to cause a great deal of trouble."

Phillips, Wendell -- “Mobs and Education,” Speech, Twenty-Eighth Congregational Society, Boston (16 Dec 1860)

Dave — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 17:25:39 +0000

The time to assert rights is when they are denied; the men to assert them are those to whom they are denied. The community which dares not protect its humblest and most hated member in the free utterance of his opinions, no matter how false or hateful, is only a gang of slaves.

Wendell Phillips (1811–1884) American abolitionist, orator, social activist
“Mobs and Education,” Speech, Twenty-Eighth Congregational Society, Boston (16 Dec 1860)

As reported in the Liberator (21 Dec 1860).

Note: There is a synthetic quotation frequently attributed to Phillips that is a actually combination of this one, and these three others:

No matter whose lips that would speak, they must be free and ungagged. The community which dares not protect its humblest and most hated member in the free utterance of his opinions, no matter how false or hateful, is only a gang of slaves. If there is anything in the universe that can’t stand discussion, let it crack.

While Phillips often reused rhetorical elements (as most orators do), this particular combination appears to be combination not actually found in his speeches or writing.

Andrew, John A. -- Letter (1860)

Dave — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 17:42:05 +0000

“The right to think, to know and to utter,” as John Milton said, is the dearest of all liberties. Without this right, there can be no liberty to any people; with it, there can be no slavery.

John A. Andrew (1818–1867) American lawyer, politician, abolitionist
Letter (1860)

Letter written after his election as Massachusetts governor. referencing Milton's Areopagitica. Quoted by Wendell Phillips in his "Mobs and Education" speech (16 Dec 1860), and often attributed to Phillips.

Phillips, Wendell -- “The Scholar in a Republic,” Speech, Centennial Anniversary of the Phi Beta Kapa of Harvard College (30 Jun 1881)

Dave — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 18:06:20 +0000

Men are educated and the State uplifted by allowing all — every one — to broach all their mistakes and advocate all their errors. The community that will not protect its most ignorant and unpopular member in the free utterance of his opinions, no matter how false or hateful, is only a gang of slaves.

Wendell Phillips (1811–1884) American abolitionist, orator, social activist
“The Scholar in a Republic,” Speech, Centennial Anniversary of the Phi Beta Kapa of Harvard College (30 Jun 1881)

Macaulay, Thomas Babington -- Speech on re-election to Parliament, Edinburgh (2 Nov 1852)

Dave — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 16:39:44 +0000

Let us shun extremes, not only because each extreme is in itself a positive evil, but also because each extreme necessarily engenders its opposite. If we love civil and religious freedom, let us in the day of danger uphold law and order. If we are zealous for law and order, let us prize, as the best safeguard of law and order, civil and religious freedom.

Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) English writer and politician
Speech on re-election to Parliament, Edinburgh (2 Nov 1852)

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1854-10-16), “In Reply to Senator Douglas,” Peoria, Illinois

Dave — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 19:37:38 +0000

This declared indifference, but as I must think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I cannot but hate. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our Republican example of its just influence in the world — enables the enemies of free institutions, with plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites — causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity, and especially because it forces so many really good men amongst ourselves into an open war with the very fundamental principles of civil liberty — criticizing the Declaration of Independence, and insisting that there is no right principle of action but self-interest.

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861–65)
Speech (1854-10-16), “In Reply to Senator Douglas,” Peoria, Illinois

Speaking on the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed for residents of those two territories to decide locally whether to allow slavery there.

Adams, John -- Essay (1765-10-21), “A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law,” No. 4, Boston Gazette

Dave — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 23:55:27 +0000

Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak and write.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founder, statesman; US President (1797–1801)
Essay (1765-10-21), “A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law,” No. 4, Boston Gazette

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Lecture (1910-06-07), “Biological Analogies in History,” Romanes Lecture, Oxford University

Dave — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 12:43:23 +0000

True liberty shows itself to best advantage in protecting the rights of others, and especially of minorities.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Lecture (1910-06-07), “Biological Analogies in History,” Romanes Lecture, Oxford University

Keillor, Garrison -- “Congress’s Shameful Retreat From American Values,” Chicago Tribune (4 Oct 2006)

Dave — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 13:50:45 +0000

If the government can round up someone and never be required to explain why, then it’s no longer the United States of America as you and I always understood it. Our enemies have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They have made us become like them.

Garrison Keillor (b. 1942) American entertainer, author
“Congress’s Shameful Retreat From American Values,” Chicago Tribune (4 Oct 2006)

Acton, John Dalberg (Lord) -- Speech (1877-02-28), “The History of Freedom in Antiquity,” Bridgenorth Institute

Dave — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 14:50:18 +0000

It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority. For there is a reserve of latent power in the masses which, if it is called into play, the minority can seldom resist.

John Dalberg, Lord Acton (1834–1902) British historian, politician, writer
Speech (1877-02-28), “The History of Freedom in Antiquity,” Bridgenorth Institute

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1799-06-18) to William Green Mumford

Dave — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 13:36:03 +0000

To preserve the freedom of the human mind, then, and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will, and speak as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801–09)
Letter (1799-06-18) to William Green Mumford

Black, Hugo -- Smith v. California, 361 U.S. 147, 157 (1959) [concurring]

Dave — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:02:43 +0000

Certainly the First Amendment’s language leaves no room for inference that abridgments of speech and press can be made just because they are slight. That Amendment provides, in simple words, that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” I read “no law … abridging” to mean no law abridging.

Hugo Black (1886–1971) American politician and jurist; US Supreme Court Justice (1937–71)
Smith v. California, 361 U.S. 147, 157 (1959) [concurring]

Jackson, Robert H. -- Terminiello v. City of Chicago, 337 U.S. 37 (1949) [dissenting]

Dave — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:54:31 +0000

The Bill of Rights is not a suicide pact.

Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941–54), lawyer, jurist, politician
Terminiello v. City of Chicago, 337 U.S. 37 (1949) [dissenting]

Common paraphrase of Jackson's actual comment:

This Court has gone far toward accepting the doctrine that civil liberty means the removal of all restraints from these crowds, and that all local attempts to maintain order are impairments of the liberty of the citizen. The choice is not between order and liberty. It is between liberty with order and anarchy without either. There is danger that, if the Court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (1987-09-11), “We the People,” Texas Observer

Dave — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:46:49 +0000

In my opinion, there’s not a thing wrong with the ideals and mechanisms outlined and the liberties set forth in the Constitution of the United States. The only problem was, the founders left a lot of people out of the Constitution. They left out poor people and black people and female people. It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America. And it still goes on today.

Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1987-09-11), “We the People,” Texas Observer

Collected in Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? (1991).

Jackson, Robert H. -- Douglas v. Jeannette 319 U.S. 157, 181 (1943) [concurring]

Dave — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:36:09 +0000

Civil liberties had their origin and must find their ultimate guaranty in the faith of the people. If that faith should be lost, five or nine men in Washington could not long supply its want.

Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941–54), lawyer, jurist, politician
Douglas v. Jeannette 319 U.S. 157, 181 (1943) [concurring]

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Essay (1940-02-10), “Fear is the Enemy,” The Nation, Vol. 150, No. 6

Dave — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:01:59 +0000

We do not move forward by curtailing people’s liberty because we are afraid of what they may do or say. We move forward by assuring to all people protection in the basic liberties under a democratic form of government, and then making sure that our government serves the real needs of the people.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Essay (1940-02-10), “Fear is the Enemy,” The Nation, Vol. 150, No. 6

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Speech (1938-06-30), National Education Association, World’s Fair, New York City

Dave — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:37:58 +0000

If the fires of freedom and civil liberties burn low in other lands, they must be made brighter in our own.
If in other lands the press and books and literature of all kinds are censored, we must redouble our efforts here to keep them free.
If in other lands the eternal truths of the past are threatened by intolerance we must provide a safe place for their perpetuation.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman; US President (1933–45)
Speech (1938-06-30), National Education Association, World’s Fair, New York City

Phillips, Wendell -- “The Boston Mob,” speech, Antislavery Meeting, Boston (21 Oct 1855)

Dave — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 17:42:24 +0000

The last lesson a man ever learns is, that liberty of thought and speech is the right for all mankind; that the man who denies every article of our creed is to be allowed to preach just as often and just as loud as we ourselves. We have learned this, — been taught it by persecution on the question of slavery. No matter whose lips that would speak, they must be free and ungagged. Let us always remember that he does not really believe his own opinions, who dares not give free scope to his opponent. Persecution is really want of faith in our creed.

Wendell Phillips (1811–1884) American abolitionist, orator, social activist
“The Boston Mob,” speech, Antislavery Meeting, Boston (21 Oct 1855)

"On the Twentieth Anniversary of the Mob of October 21, 1835."

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Letter (1940-01-09) to William Allan Neilson

Dave — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:41:07 +0000

We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman; US President (1933–45)
Letter (1940-01-09) to William Allan Neilson

Neilson was the co-chair of the Sponsor Committee, Fourth Annual Conference of the American Committee for Protection of Foreign-Born. It was read to the conference on 1940-03-01, and entered into the Congressional Record (along with other letters received) on 1940-03-11.

Just over two years later, 1942-02-19, FDR signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the evacuation of all persons (which largely meant Japanese-Americans) deemed a national security threat from the West Coast to internment centers further inland. The EO was in effect until rescinded by Roosevelt in 1944-12 after the Supreme Court ruling in Ex parte Endo.

Jackson, Robert H. -- United States v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78 (1944) [dissent]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

[T]he price of freedom of religion or of speech or of the press is that we must put up with, and even pay for, a good deal of rubbish.

Robert H. Jackson (1892–1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941–54), lawyer, jurist, politician
United States v. Ballard, 322 U.S. 78 (1944) [dissent]

Chomsky, Noam -- The Late Show, TV interview with John Pilger, BBC2 (25 Nov 1992)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all.

Noam Chomsky (b. 1928) American linguist and activist
The Late Show, TV interview with John Pilger, BBC2 (25 Nov 1992)

Black, Hugo -- New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 296–297 (1964) [concurring]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Freedom to discuss public affairs and public officials is unquestionably, as the Court today holds, the kind of speech the First Amendment was primarily designed to keep within the area of free discussion. To punish the exercise of this right to discuss public affairs or to penalize it through libel judgments is to abridge or shut off discussion of the very kind most needed. This Nation, I suspect, can live in peace without libel suits based on public discussions of public affairs and public officials. But I doubt that a country can live in freedom where its people can be made to suffer physically or financially for criticizing their government, its actions, or its officials.

Hugo Black (1886–1971) American politician and jurist; US Supreme Court Justice (1937–71)
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 296–297 (1964) [concurring]