The spirit of truth and the spirit of freedom—they are the pillars of society.

I could not understand how any man could be so brutalized as to claim the right to dispose of the lives of others, nor how any man could be so lacking in self-esteem as to grant to others the right to dispose of his life.

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.

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.

If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves, it is because self-knowledge is painful and we prefer the pleasures of illusion.

God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say: "This is my country."

Freedom of men under government is to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society, and made by the legislative power vested in it; a liberty to follow my own will in all things when the rule prescribes not, and not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain, unknown, arbitrary rule of another man.

There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution.

It does not take a majority of prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.

What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.

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

It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster.

In this age, the man who dares to think for himself and to act independently does a service to his race.

If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to allow his vision wherever it takes him.

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.

You cannot possibly have a broader basis for any government than that which includes all the people, with all their rights in their hands, and with an equal power to maintain their rights.

Why has government been instituted? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason & justice without constraint.

Teach the ignorant as much as you can; society is culpable in not providing a free education for all and it must answer for the night which it produces. If the soul is left in darkness sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but he who causes the darkness.

My own art is a negation of society, an affirmation of the individual, outside all rules and demands of society.

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

Every civilization is, among other things, an arrangement for domesticating the passions and setting them to do useful work.

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

And then she understood the devilish cunning of the enemies’ plan. By mixing a little truth with it they had made their lie far stronger.

Everything you say should be true but not everything true should be said.

Falsehood has an infinity of combinations, but truth has only one mode of being.

It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.

Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.

Plato is my friend; Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.

Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.

I am a true laborer: I earn that I eat, get that I wear, owe no man hate, envy no man’s happiness, glad of other men’s good, content with my harm.

People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I've learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one's reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one's master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person's view requires to be faked.

For truth is precious and divine—too rich a perl for carnal swine.

To offend a strong man, tell him a lie. To offend a weak man, tell him the truth.