33 freedom of speech quotes to get you thinking

If you’re looking for some freedom-of-speech quotes, then I’ve curated some that are thought-provoking and interesting.

We live in an era that is often intolerant of those who express ideas and opinions that run counter to the received wisdom of the day.

However, freedom of speech matters to us all if we believe in democracy and the right of individuals to call out ideas that would not be in the interests of the majority.

Freedom of speech is precious, and we must guard it as if our lives depended on it because one day they just might.

So take a few moments to contemplate these quotes and please feel free to pass them on.

Freedom of speech quotes (1-10):

Free speech includes the right to not speak. ~Jimmy Wales
You must stand for free speech in the streets. ~Mary Harris Jones
With honest discussion and free speech, let people’s voices be heard. ~Ron Johnson
I don’t think we should be deprived of the privilege of free speech. ~Loretta Swit
I’m a free-speech bigot. I don’t like censorship; I just don’t think it’s a good thing. ~Fred Wilson
You know, everybody believes in free speech until you start questioning them about it. ~Larry Flynt
Free speech is not just another value. It’s the foundation of Western civilization. ~Jordan Peterson
I think, with never-ending gratitude, that the young women of today do not and can never know at what price their right to free speech and to speak at all in public has been earned. ~Lucy Stone
Stand-up comedy, and comedy in general, is the ultimate form of free speech because you get to poke holes in all the pretentious bubbles politicians and pundits and popes and pretenders try to float over our heads. ~Denis Leary
Free expression is the base of human rights, the root of human nature and the mother of truth. To kill free speech is to insult human rights, stifle human nature and suppress the truth. ~Liu Xiaobo

Freedom of speech quotes (11-20):

Free speech is the cornerstone of every right we have. ~Mark Thomas
Politicians believe in freedom of speech until it becomes inconvenient to them. ~Tom Irwell
Without free speech no search for truth is possible… no discovery of truth is useful. ~Charles Bradlaugh
Free speech is meant to protect unpopular speech. Popular speech, by definition, needs no protection. ~Neal Boortz
To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. ~Frederick Douglass
Free speech is one of the most important things to me, but I think it gets confusing when it comes to offence. Because for one, just because you have the right to say anything, it doesn’t mean you have to. ~Ricky Gervais
The Framers of the Constitution knew that free speech is the friend of change and revolution. But they also knew that it is always the deadliest enemy of tyranny. ~Hugo Black
Liberals shouldn’t cede the responsibility to defend free speech on college campuses to conservatives. After all, without free speech, what’s liberalism about? ~Bari Weiss
You can’t just slander someone, defame them, or lie about them. You can’t incite people to crime. There are all sorts of reasonable restrictions on free speech that are already codified in the British common-law system. ~Jordan Peterson
It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately upon attaining power, each dictator suppressed all free speech except his own. ~Herbert Hoover

Freedom of speech quotes (21-27):

Fear of serious injury alone cannot justify the oppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears. ~Louis D. Brandeis
Free speech rights mean that government officials are barred from creating lists of approved and disapproved political ideas and then using the power of the state to enforce those preferences. ~Glenn Greenwald
Free speech is the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear. The right to express opinions with which others may disagree. If we believe in free speech, then that right must be respected. ~Roy Sutton
In cyberspace, people with different skin colours, nationalities, cultures and languages should be equally entitled to participation, free speech and development. We should abandon prejudices, respect differences, and be tolerant and open. ~Lu Wei
We have no blasphemy laws these days but with that freedom comes the responsibility which should always attend the exercise of free speech: truth, courtesy and awareness of impact. It is the last of these which is so neglected by so much modern comedy. ~Ann Widdecombe
Twitter is a form of free speech, and I’m all for that. But if Cee Lo Green, a maverick of sorts, can’t get on Twitter and say something outlandish or outrageous, then what is the whole point of Twitter at all? ~CeeLo Green
None of us believes in an untrammelled right to free speech. We all agree there are always going to be lines that, for the purposes of law and order, cannot be crossed; or for the purposes of taste and decency, should not be crossed. We differ only on where those lines should be drawn. ~Mehdi Hasan

Freedom of speech quotes (27-33):

That I have the right to express myself freely at all times in all circumstances entails the idea that free speech is a ‘basic human right’ possessed by each individual, and, as such, trumps the interests of the society or group, including my neighbour. ~Tom Stoppard
One of the problems with defending free speech is you often have to defend people that you find to be outrageous and unpleasant and disgusting. ~Salman Rushdie
You can’t have a university without having free speech, even though at times it makes us terribly uncomfortable. If students are not going to hear controversial ideas on college campuses, they’re not going to hear them in America. I believe it’s part of their education. ~Donna Shalala
The fact that we’re protected under the Constitution in exercising the right of free speech, it’s a wonderful thing. You’ve got to come from somewhere else to realize how valuable it is. ~Pat Oliphant
You should protest about the views of people you disagree with over major moral issues, and argue them down, but you should not try to silence them, however repugnant you find them. That is the bitter pill free speech requires us to swallow. ~Julian Baggini
The idea that corporations have the same First Amendment protections of free speech as people is troubling. Corporations are not people. They don’t attend our schools, get married and have children. They don’t vote in our elections. ~Hank Johnson

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