Free speech honors disagreement.

Diversity of opinion within the framework of loyalty to our free society is not only basic to a university but to the entire nation.

Isn’t it amazing that we are all made in God’s image, and yet there is so much diversity among his people?

I had always hoped that this land might become a safe & agreeable Asylum to the virtuous & persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.

Speech is civilization itself. The word, even the most contradictory word, preserves contact—it is silence which isolates.

The overwhelming importance of the atmosphere means that there are no longer any frontiers to defend against pollution, attack, or propaganda. It means, further, that only by a deep patriotic devotion to one’s country can there be a hope of the kind of protection of the whole planet, which is necessary for the survival of the people of other countries.

If we are to achieve richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.

Our task must be to free ourselves…by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.

Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.

As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own.

For friendship, like freedom, must be tended.

Man is free at the moment he wishes to be.

Free choice is the greatest gift God gives to his children.

Early in life I have noticed that no event is ever correctly reported in a newspaper, but in Spain, for the first time, I saw newspaper reports which did not bear any relation to the facts, not even the relationship which is implied in an ordinary lie. I saw great battles reported where there had been no fighting, and complete silence where hundreds of men had been killed. I saw troops who had fought bravely denounced as cowards and traitors, and others who had never seen a shot fired hailed as heroes of imaginary victories; and I saw newspapers in London retailing these lies and eager intellectuals building emotional superstructures over events that never happened. I saw, in fact, history being written not in terms of what happened but of what ought to have happened according to various “party lines.”

Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.

Never exceed your rights, and they will soon become unlimited.

The welfare of the people has always been the alibi of tyrants.

Wherever there is injustice, war, discrimination against women, gays and the disadvantaged, I did my best to show up and exert moral persuasion.

Since men are neither omniscient nor infallible, they must be free to agree or disagree, to cooperate or to pursue their own independent course, each according to his own rational judgment. Freedom is the fundamental requirement of man's mind.

It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence. . . . I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

It is a socialist idea making profits is a vice. I consider the real vice is making losses.

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.

I have said that the Declaration of Independence is the ring-bolt to the chain of your nation’s destiny; so, indeed, I regard it. The principles contained in that instrument are saving principles. Stand by those principles, be true to them on all occasions, in all places, against all foes, and at whatever cost.

They fear love because it creates a world they can't control.

When one remains silent in the face of oppression, one is on the side of the oppressor.

When even one American, who has done nothing wrong, is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all Americans are in peril.

I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.

Most conversations are just alternating monologues. The question is, is there any real listening going on.

A leader who does not take advice is not a leader.

Never miss a good chance to shut up.

Listen with ears of tolerance, see through the eyes of compassion, speak with language of love.

We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent coannihilation. This may well be mankind's last chance between chaos and community.

Meaningful silence is better than meaningless words.

It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.

Some people’s idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.

People who know what they’re talking about don’t need PowerPoint.

Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech.

Man's tongue is soft, and bone doth lack; yet a stroke therewith may break a man's back.

The thought of only being a creature of the present and the past was troubling. I longed for a future, too, with hope in it. The desire to be free, awakened my determination to act, to think, and to speak.

It is absurd to hold that a man ought to be ashamed of being unable to defend himself with his limbs, but not of being unable to defend himself with speech and reason.

The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak.

The truth is always exciting. Speak it, then. Life is dull without it.