Liberty quotations
McCarthy Mary 1912-1989
Liberty, as it is conceived by current opinion, has nothing inherent about it; it is a sort of gift or trust bestowed on the individual by the state pending good behaviour.
Macaulay Baron (Thomas Babington) 1800-1859
Essays ... ‘Milton'
If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed wait for ever.
Madison James 1751-1836
The Federalist
Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an ailment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.
Mill John Stuart 1806-1873
On Liberty
The sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection.
Mill John Stuart 1806-1873
On Liberty
The liberty of the individual must be thus far limited; he must not make himself a nuisance to other people.
Mill John Stuart 1806-1873
On Liberty
Liberty consists in doing what one desires.
Milton John 1608-1674
Areopagitica
Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.
Milton John 1608-1674
‘L'Allegro'
Come, and trip it as ye go
On the light fantastic toe,
And in thy right hand lead with thee,
The mountain nymph, sweer Liberty.
Milton John 1608-1674
Sonnet 12"I did but prompt the age"
I did but prompt the age to quit their clogs
By the known rules of ancient liberty,
When straight a barbarous noise environs me
Of owls and cuckoos,asses,apes,and dogs.
Milton John 1608-1674
Sonnet 12"I did but prompt the age"
Licence they mean when they cry liberty;
For who loves that, must first be wise and good.
Montesquieu Charles Baron de 1689-1755
L'Esprit de lois, XI
Liberty is the right to do everything which the laws allow.
Roland Madame 1754-1793
O liberty! O liberty! what crimes are committed in thy name!
Savile George 1633-1695
Political, Moral, and Miscellaneous Thoughts and Reflections
When the people contend for their liberty, they seldom get anything by their victory but new masters.
Scanlon Hugh
Of course liberty is not licence. Liberty in my view is conforming to majority opinion.
Shaw George Bernard 1856-1950
Man and Superman ‘Maxims: Liberty and Equality'
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.
Smith Samuel Francis 1808-1895
‘America'
My country, ‘tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Tocqueville Alexis de 1805-1859
L'Ancien régime
He who desires in liberty anything other than itself is born to be a servant.
Webster Daniel 1782-1852
Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.
Wilson Woodrow 1856-1924
The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it.
Wilson Woodrow 1856-1924
The world must be made safe for democracy
Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty.
Wylie Philip
If liberty has any meaning it means freedom to improve.