QuoteProject
Free speech is not to be regulated like diseased cattle and impure butter. The audience that hissed yesterday may applaud today, even for the same performance.
William O. Douglas
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Free speech should not be controlled or silenced as if it were a harmful product; public opinion can change rapidly.

This quote emphasizes the importance of protecting free speech from excessive regulation. William O. Douglas argues that public reaction to ideas and performances can be fickle, suggesting that ideas should be freely expressed and subject to change in perception over time, rather than being stifled by restrictions or fear of dissent.

Themes

Free SpeechRegulationPublic OpinionPerceptionExpression

In practice

Example use cases

During a debate on censorship, one might use this quote to argue against restricting media.

More from William O. Douglas

The critical point is that the Constitution places the right of silence beyond the reach of government.
William O. DouglasRead
One who comes to the Court must come to adore, not to protest. That's the new gloss on the First Amendment.
William O. DouglasRead
The great and invigorating influences in American life have been the unorthodox: the people who challenge an existing institution or way of life, or say and do things that make people think.
William O. DouglasRead
I have the same confidence in the ability of our people to reject noxious literature as I have in their capacity to sort out the true from the false in theology, economics, or any other field.
William O. DouglasRead
Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.
William O. DouglasRead
The truth is that a vast restructuring of our society is needed if remedies are to become available to the average person. Without that restructuring the good will that holds society together will be slowly dissipated... It is that sense of futility which permeates the present series of protests and dissents. Where there is a persistent sense of futility, there is violence; and that is where we are today.
William O. DouglasRead

Similar quotes

Whiteness in a racist, corporate-controlled society is like having the image of an American Express Cardstamped on one's face: immediately you are “universally accepted.”
Manning MarableRead
In general, people are afraid to acknowledge hallucinations because they immediately see them as a sign of something awful happening to the brain, whereas in most cases they're not.
Oliver SacksRead
Every man who has lived for fifty years has buried a whole world or even two; he has grown used to its disappearance and accustomed to the new scenery of another act: but suddenly the names and faces of a time long dead appear more and more often on his way, calling up series of shades and pictures kept somewhere, "just in case," in the endless catacombs of the memory, making him smile or sigh, and sometimes almost weep.
Alexander HerzenRead
It is not the body, nor the personality that is the true self. The true self is eternal. Even on the point of death we can say to ourselves, "my true self is free. I cannot be contained."
Marcus AureliusRead
When commenting on the turmoil and disorder of the world, If the other planets are inhabited, they must be using this earth as their insane asylum.
George Bernard ShawRead
The statement that 'God is dead' comes from Nietzsche and has recently been trumpeted abroad by some German and American theologians. But the good Lord has not died of this; He who dwells in the heaven laughs at them.
Karl BarthRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.