14 quotes
What light is to the eyes, what love is to the heart, Liberty is to the soul of man. Without it, there come suffocation, degradation and death.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
I would not wish to live in a world where I could not express my honest opinions. Men who deny to others the right of speech are not fit to live with honest men.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
Liberty is the condition of progress. Without Liberty, there remains only barbarism. Without Liberty, there can be no civilization.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
There has never been upon the earth a generation of free men and women. It is not yet time to write a creed.
The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child (1877)
Nature is good enough and grand enough and broad enough to give us the diversity born of liberty.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
The liberty of man is of far more importance than any book; the rights of man, more sacred than any religion — than any Scriptures, whether inspired or not.
The most important thing in this world is liberty. More important than food or clothes — more important than gold or houses or lands — more important than art or science — more important than all religions, is the liberty of man.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
There is this peculiarity in our country—the only men who can be trusted with human liberty are the ones who are not to be angels hereafter.
To the Indianapolis Clergy." The Iconoclast (Indianapolis, IN) (1883)
I would defend the freedom of speech. And why? Because no attack can be answered by force, no argument can be refuted by a blow, or by imprisonment, or by fine. You may imprison the man, but the argument is free; you may fell the man to the earth, but the statement stands.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
Wait until the world is free before you write a creed.
In this creed there will be but one word — Liberty.
The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child (1877)
If there is one subject in this world worthy of being discussed, worthy of being understood, it is the question of intellectual liberty. Without that, we are simply painted clay; without that, we are poor, miserable serfs and slaves.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
There is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence.
The history of man is simply the history of slavery, of injustice and brutality, together with the means by which he has, through the dead and desolate years, slowly and painfully advanced.
The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child (1877)
I am a believer in liberty. That is my religion — to give to every other human being every right that I claim for myself, and I grant to every other human being, not the right — because it is his right — but instead of granting I declare that it is his right, to attack every doctrine that I maintain, to answer every argument that I may urge — in other words, he must have absolute freedom of speech.
The trial of Charles B. Reynolds for blasphemy (1887)
These heroes are dead. They died for liberty — they died for us.
Attributed