People crushed by law have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to laws.
Thomas Babington MacaulayRead
After all, if freedom of speech means anything, it means a willingness to stand and let people say things with which we disagree, and which do weary us considerably.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Freedom of speech involves tolerating ideas that you may disagree with, even if they are burdensome.
This quote emphasizes the essence of freedom of speech, which is not just about allowing agreeable opinions to be expressed but also about accepting and enduring viewpoints that challenge or irritate us. It suggests that true liberty in speech encompasses a robust commitment to hear and consider voices that differ from our own, as this is fundamental to a healthy democratic society.
Themes
FreedomSpeechDisagreementToleranceDemocracy
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about controversial topics, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of respecting differing opinions.
Similar quotes
My libertarian beliefs have not always served me well. Like most people who hold strong ideological convictions, I find that, too often, my beliefs trump the scientific facts.
Michael ShermerRead
The battle between good and evil is endlessly fascinating because we are participants every day.
Stephen KingRead
War is an absolute failure of imagination, scientific and political. That a war can be represented as helping a people to 'feel good' about themselves, or their country, is a measure of that failure.
Adrienne RichRead
Disneyland remains the central attraction of Southern California, but the graveyard remains our reality.
Charles BukowskiRead
I would say as a journalist, I would envision travelling to other countries that have had to reckon with their past and see how they've done it: what worked, what didn't work, finding characters that would tell the story of how that process was done.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead