Adams John 1735-1826
There is a danger from all men. The only maxim of a free Government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
Anonymous
Liberty is always unfinished business.
Bacon Francis 1561-1626
Essays ‘Of Great Place'
It is a strange desire to seek power and to lose liberty.
Bell Clive 1881-1964
Civilization
Only reason can convince us of those three fundamental truthswithout a recognition of which there can be no effective liberty:
that what we believe is not necessarily true; that what we like is not necessarily good; and that all questions are open.
Berlin Sir Isaiah 1909-1997
Two Concepts of Lyberty
Liberty is liberty, not equality or fairness or justice or human happiness or a quiet conscience.
Burke Edmund 1929-1797
On Conciliation with America
Abstract liberty, like other mere abstractions, is not to be found.
Burke Edmund 1929-1797
The effect of liberty on individuals is that they may do what they please: we ought to see what it will please them to do, before we risk congratulations.
Burke Edmund 1929-1797
Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol
Liberty too must be limited in order to be possessed.
Burke Edmund 1929-1797
Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol
Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist.
Burns Robert 1759-1796
‘Robert Bruce's March to Bannockburn'
Lyberty's in every blow!
Lt us do - or die!!!
Cheney Dick 1941-
It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you.
Durant Will 1885-1981
When liberty destroys order, the hunger for order will destroy liberty.
Fosdick Harry Emerson 1878-1969
Liberty is always dangerous - but it is the safest thing we have.
Frankfurter Felix 1882-1965
It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in cases involving not very nice people.
Gandhi Mahatma 1869-1948
Non-Violence in Peace and War
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
Gibbon Edward 1737-1794
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Corruption, the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty.
Godolphin Sidney 1610-1643
„Song"
Or love me less, or love me more
And play not with my liberty;
Either take all, or all restore,
Bind me at least, or set me free.
Goethe Johann von 1749-1832
He alone deserves liberty and life who daily must win them anew.
Hand Learned 1872-1961
The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right.
Henry Patrick 1736-1799
I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!
Hughes Langston 1902-1967
‘Children's Rhymes'
Lies written down
For white folks
Ain't for us a-tall:
Liberty and Justice-
Huh!- For All?
Hume David 1711-1776
Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary
In all ages of the world, priests have been enemies of liberty.
Ingersoll Robert G. 1833-1899
By physical liberty I mean the right to do anything which does not interfere with the happiness of another. By intellectual liberty I mean the right to think wrong.
Jefferson Thomas 1743-1826
American Declaration of Independence
We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights
inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Junius
The Letters of Junius
The liberty of the press is the Palladium of all the civil, political, and religious rights of an Englishman.
Kennedy John F. 1917-1963
(Inaugural address)
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
Lenin 1870-1924
Liberty is precious - so precious that it must be rationed.
Lincoln Abraham 1809-1865
Our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Locke John 1632-1704
Second Treatise of Civil Government
The only way by which any one divests himself of his natural liberty and puts on the bonds of civil society is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community.
Longfellow Henry Wadsworth 1807-1882
„The Slave's Dream"
The forests, with their myriad tongues,
Shouted of liberty;
And the Blast of the Desert cried aloud,
With a voice so wild and free,
That he started in his sleep and smiled
At their tempestuous glee.
Lovelace Richard 1618-1658
‘To Althea, From Prison'
When I lie tangled in her hair,
And fettered to her eye;
The Gods, that wanton in the air
Know no such liberty.
Lovelace Richard 1618-1658
‘To Althea, From Prison'
When thirsty grief in wine we steep,
When healths and draughts go free,
Fishes, that tipple in the deep,
Know no such liberty.
Lovelace Richard 1618-1658
„To Althea, From Prison"
Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free;
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
Lowell James Russell 1819-1891
The Biglow Papers
But libbaty's a kind o'thing
That don't agree with niggers.