WIST Quotations

Rushdie, Salman -- Speech (2012-05-06), Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture, PEN World Voices Festival, New York City

Dave — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 18:06:40 +0000

Great art, or, let’s just say, more modestly, original art is never created in the safe middle ground, but always at the edge. Originality is dangerous. It challenges, questions, overturns assumptions, unsettles moral codes, disrespects sacred cows or other such entities. It can be shocking, or ugly, or, to use the catch-all term so beloved of the tabloid press, controversial. And if we believe in liberty, if we want the air we breathe to remain plentiful and breathable, this is the art whose right to exist we must not only defend, but celebrate. Art is not entertainment. At its very best, it’s a revolution.

Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) Indian novelist
Speech (2012-05-06), Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture, PEN World Voices Festival, New York City
(Source)

Printed as an essay (2012-05-11), "On Censorship," The New Yorker magazine.

White, E. B. -- Essay (1939-01), “One Man’s Meat,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 178

Dave — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 05:48:44 +0000

When liberty’s position is challenged, artists and writers are the ones who first take up the sword. They do so without persuasion, for the battle is peculiarly their own. In the nature of things, a person engaged in the flimsy business of expressing himself on paper is dependent on the large general privilege of being heard. Any intimation that this privilege may be revoked throws a writer into a panic. His is a double allegiance to freedom — an intellectual one springing from the conviction that pure thought has a right to function unimpeded, and a selfish one springing from his need, as a breadwinner, to be allowed to speak his piece.

E. B. White (1899–1985) American author, critic, humorist [Elwyn Brooks White]
Essay (1939-01), “One Man’s Meat,” Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 178
(Source)

When collected in his book, One Man's Meat (1944), the essay was renamed "Salt Water Farm." Sometimes the excerpted third section of the essay is referred to as "The Duty of Writers."

Thurber, James -- Essay (1958-12-07), “State of the Nation’s Humor: ‘On the Brink of Was,'” New York Times Magazine

Dave — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:06:51 +0000

America must learn that humor, whatever form it may take, can be one of our strongest allies, but it cannot flourish in a weather of fear and hysteria and intimidation.

James Thurber (1894–1961) American humorist, cartoonist, writer
Essay (1958-12-07), “State of the Nation’s Humor: ‘On the Brink of Was,'” New York Times Magazine
(Source)

Commager, Henry Steele -- Essay (1965-12-18), “The Problem of Dissent,” Saturday Review

Dave — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 23:08:29 +0000

But this we can say with certainty: a government and a society that silences those who dissent is one that has lost its way. This we can say: that what is essential in a free society is that there should be an atmosphere where those who wish to dissent and even to demonstrate can do so without fear of recrimination or vilification.

Henry Steele Commager (1902–1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1965-12-18), “The Problem of Dissent,” Saturday Review
(Source)

Reprinted in Freedom and Order, Part 6 (1966).

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1943-05-11), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 18:40:16 +0000

In the democracies of the world, the passion for freedom of speech and of thought is always accentuated when there is an effort anywhere to keep ideas away from people and to prevent them from making their own decisions. One of the best ways of enslaving a people is to keep them from education and thus make it impossible for them to understand what is going on in the world as a whole. […] The second way of enslaving a people is to suppress the sources of information, not only by burning books, but by controlling all the other ways in which ideas are transmitted.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1943-05-11), “My Day”
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”

Dave — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 17:35:04 +0000

One thing is sure — none of the arts flourishes on censorship and repression. And by this time it should be evident that the American public is capable of doing its own censoring.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”
(Source)

Orwell, George -- Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic

Dave — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 00:06:48 +0000

At some time in the future, if the human mind becomes something totally different from what it is now, we may learn to separate literary creation from intellectual honesty. At present we know only that the imagination, like certain wild animals, will not breed in captivity.

George Orwell (1903–1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic
(Source)

On the suppression of independent writers and writing in totalitarian statues, such as Germany and the Soviet Union, and the apathy of Western intelligentsia about it.

Rushdie, Salman -- “Public Event, Private Lives,” speech, University of Colorado, Boulder (2013-04-17)

Dave — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 15:14:04 +0000

An attack upon our ability to tell stories is not just censorship — it is a crime against our nature as human beings.

Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) Indian novelist
“Public Event, Private Lives,” speech, University of Colorado, Boulder (2013-04-17)
(Source)

Serling, Rod -- “The Challenge of the Mass Media to the 20th Century Writer,” Speech, Library of Congress (15 Jan 1968)

Dave — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 17:55:10 +0000

Despite everything, despite our controversies and despite what is apparently and tragically a sense of divisiveness that permeates our land, and despite riots and rebellions that go hand-in-hand, mind you, with repression and brutality, one major and fundamental guarantee of protracted freedom is the unfettered right of the man to write as he sees fit, as his conscience indicates, as his mood dictates, as his cause cries out for. The moment you begin to censor the writer — and history bears this out in the ugliest of fashions — so begins a process of decay in the body politic that ultimately leads to disaster. What begins with a blue pencil — for whatever reason — very often ends in a concentration camp.

It has forever been thus: So long as men write what they think, then all of the other freedoms — all of them — may remain intact. And it is then that writing becomes a weapon of truth, an article of faith, an act of courage.

Rod Serling (1924–1975) American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, narrator
“The Challenge of the Mass Media to the 20th Century Writer,” Speech, Library of Congress (15 Jan 1968)
(Source)

Quoted in Anne Serling, As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling (2013).

Wilde, Oscar -- The Picture of Dorian Gray, Preface (1891)

Dave — Fri, 04 Jan 2019 04:44:18 +0000

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all.

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Preface (1891)

Forster, E. M. -- “What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)

Dave — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 20:36:40 +0000

Democracy is not a beloved Republic really, and never will be. But it is less hateful than other contemporary forms of government, and to that extent it deserves our support. It does start from the assumption that the individual is important, and that all types are needed to make a civilization. It does not divide its citizens into the bossers and the bossed — as an efficiency-regime tends to do. The people I admire most are those who are sensitive and want to create something or discover something, and do not see life in terms of power, and such people get more of a chance under a democracy than elsewhere. They found religions, great or small, or they produce literature and art, or they do disinterested scientific research, or they may be what is called “ordinary people”, who are creative in their private lives, bring up their children decently, for instance, or help their neighbours. All these people need to express themselves; they cannot do so unless society allows them liberty to do so, and the society which allows them most liberty is a democracy.

E. M. Forster (1879–1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
“What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)
(Source)

Voltaire -- (Spurious)

Dave — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 13:33:09 +0000

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer [pseud. of Francois-Marie Arouet]
(Spurious)
(Source)

The words are not found in any actual Voltaire source. They belong to historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall, writing as S. G. Tallentyre, in The Friends of Voltaire (1906), describing an 1759 incident where Voltaire learned that Claude-Adrien Helvétius' book On the Mind [De l’esprit] had been burned (along with Voltaire's own On Natural Law) after condemnation by the Paris Parliament and the Sorbonne. Voltaire himself wasn't impressed by Helvétius' book, but thought a book burning was unjustified. Hall wrote:

"What a fuss about an omelette!" he had exclaimed when he heard of the burning. How abominably unjust to persecute a man for such an airy trifle as that! "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," was his attitude now.

Hall later wrote that the actual words were her own and ought not to have had quotation marks.

Variations:

I wholly disapprove of what you say -- and will defend to the death your right to say it.
Monsieur l’Abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerais ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire. [Monsieur l’abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.]

For more detailed information, see Quote Origin: I Disapprove of What You Say, But I Will Defend to the Death Your Right to Say It – Quote Investigator®.

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1801-03-29) to Samuel Adams

Dave — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 17:59:41 +0000

But opinion, & the just maintenance of it shall never be a crime in my view; nor bring injury on the individual

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801–09)
Letter (1801-03-29) to Samuel Adams
(Source)

Sometimes misattributed to George Washington.

Milton, John -- Areopagitica: a Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing (1644)

Dave — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 19:42:20 +0000

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.

John Milton (1608–1674) English poet
Areopagitica: a Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing (1644)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Letter (1942-04-23), “Message to American Booksellers Association,” Annual Banquet (1942-05-06), Astor Hotel, New York City

Dave — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 15:03:09 +0000

We all know that books burn — yet we have the greater knowledge that books cannot be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can abolish memory. No man and no force can put thought in a concentration camp forever. No man and no force can take from the world the ideas that embody man’s eternal fight against tyranny of every kind. In this war, we know, books are weapons.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman, US President (1933–1945)
Letter (1942-04-23), “Message to American Booksellers Association,” Annual Banquet (1942-05-06), Astor Hotel, New York City
(Source)

The letter was delivered with a speech by Archibald MacLeish (appointed by Roosevelt as Librarian of Congress, 1939-1944) titled "A Free Man's Books." This was shortly after FDR named April 17 as "Victory Book Day".

This quotation was turned into a poster by S. Broder, published by the US Office of War Information in 1942.

Jefferson, Thomas -- Document (1798), “Kentucky Resolutions,” Resolution 3

Dave — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 12:56:34 +0000

Another and more special provision has been made by one of the amendments to the Constitution, which expressly declares, that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press,” thereby guarding, in the same sentence, and under the same words, the freedom of religion, of speech, and of the press, insomuch that whatever violated either throws down the sanctuary which covers the others, — and that libels, falsehood, and defamation, equally with heresy and false religion, are withheld from the cognizance of federal tribunals.

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801–09)
Document (1798), “Kentucky Resolutions,” Resolution 3
(Source)

In protest of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Trial of C.B. Reynolds for blasphemy (May 1887)

Dave — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:44:57 +0000

Gentlemen, you can never make me believe — no statute can ever convince me, that there is any infinite Being in this universe who hates an honest man. It is impossible to satisfy me that there is any God, or can be any God, who holds in abhorrence a soul that has the courage to express his thought. Neither can the whole world convince me that any man should be punished, either in this world or in the next, for being candid with his fellow-men. If you send men to the penitentiary for speaking their thoughts, for endeavoring to enlighten their fellows, then the penitentiary will become a place of honor, and the victim will step from it — not stained, not disgraced, but clad in robes of glory.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Trial of C.B. Reynolds for blasphemy (May 1887)
(Source)

Paine, Thomas -- The Age of Reason, Closing Words (1796)

Dave — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:21:18 +0000

When opinions are free, either in matters of government or religion, truth will finally and powerfully prevail.

Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American political philosopher and writer
The Age of Reason, Closing Words (1796)

Gaiman, Neil -- Blog entry (2008-12-01), “Why defend freedom of icky speech?”

Dave — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:26:38 +0000

You ask, What makes it worth defending? and the only answer I can give is this: Freedom to write, freedom to read, freedom to own material that you believe is worth defending means you’re going to have to stand up for stuff you don’t believe is worth defending, even stuff you find actively distasteful, because laws are big blunt instruments that do not differentiate between what you like and what you don’t, because prosecutors are humans and bear grudges and fight for re-election, because one person’s obscenity is another person’s art. Because if you don’t stand up for the stuff you don’t like, when they come for the stuff you do like, you’ve already lost.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Blog entry (2008-12-01), “Why defend freedom of icky speech?”
(Source)

Feynman, Richard -- The Meaning of It All, “The Uncertainty of Values” (1999)

Dave — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:47:34 +0000

No government has the right to decide on the truth of scientific principles, nor to prescribe in any way the character of the questions investigated. Neither may a government determine the aesthetic value of artistic creations, nor limit the forms of literacy or artistic expression. Nor should it pronounce on the validity of economic, historic, religious, or philosophical doctrines. Instead it has a duty to its citizens to maintain the freedom, to let those citizens contribute to the further adventure and the development of the human race.

Richard Feynman (1918–1988) American physicist
The Meaning of It All, “The Uncertainty of Values” (1999)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:57:02 +0000

I have been one of those who have carried the fight for complete freedom of information in the United Nations. And while accepting the fact that some of our press, our radio commentators, our prominent citizens and our movies may at times be blamed legitimately for things they have said and done, still I feel that the fundamental right of freedom of thought and expression is essential. If you curtail what the other fellow says and does, you curtail what you yourself may say and do.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1947-10-29), “My Day”
(Source)

On the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Rushdie, Salman -- “Do we have to fight the battle for the Enlightenment all over again?” The Independent (22 Jan 2005)

Dave — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:23:30 +0000

The idea that any kind of free society can be constructed in which people will never be offended or insulted is absurd. So too is the notion that people should have the right to call on the law to defend them against being offended or insulted. A fundamental decision needs to be made: do we want to live in a free society or not? Democracy is not a tea party where people sit around making polite conversation. In democracies people get extremely upset with each other. They argue vehemently against each other’s positions. (But they don’t shoot.)

Salman Rushdie (b. 1947) Indian novelist
“Do we have to fight the battle for the Enlightenment all over again?” The Independent (22 Jan 2005)
(Source)

Stewart, Potter -- Ginzburg v. United States, 383 U.S. 463, 498 (1966) [dissenting]