Right to Free Speech Quotes

I do not like... the omission of a bill of rights providing clearly and without the aid of sophisms for freedom of religion, freedom of the press, protection against standing armies, restriction against monopolies, the eternal and unremitting force of the habeas corpus laws, and trials by jury in all matters of fact triable by the laws of the land …. A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular; and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inferences

Any person shall be entitled to publish his thoughts in printing, in writing, and in speech ... Censorship and other preventive measures shall never again be introduced.

The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself.

No one respects the First Amendment more than I do. People have a right to express their concerns and their hopes and dreams to their government.

'Negative liberty' is a political science term meaning a liberty from government action. It is not a liberty to anything - like the liberty to meaningfully contribute to public debate or to have ample spaces for speech.

I'm tired of being considered some kind of criminal or dangerous throwback for no other reason than that I value, exercise, and defend my rights under the first ten Amendments to the United States Constitution.

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.

American political theory has traditionally had much to say about rights and little about obligation. This tendency is wholesome; emphasis on rights is the most progressive characteristic of American legal traditions, the aspect of American law and social practice that is most admired abroad and best understood at home. People unversed in legal complexity do understand that they are entitled to the right of free speech, to a right against self-incrimination, to the right of religious freedom, to the right to a jury trial, to the right to vote. The Tenth Amendment is crucial: rights not granted to the state are reserved to the people. It is not a bad thing to live in a system in which we have so many rights that we do not list them all.

Enshrined in the Philippine constitution, which is similar to the United States, is the bill of rights: freedom of expression, freedom of the press. These are enshrined. And yet, freedom of the press has been curtailed.

Liberty of public association; or the security with which malcontents may communicate their sentiments, concert their plans, and practice every mode of opposition short of actual revolt, before the executive power can be legally justified in disturbing them

When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives.

There should be constitutional liberty of speech and freedom of thought, which is the elementary right of every citizen under any civilized form of Government

I have the right to speech and expression and I won't leave that.

Liberty of speech invites and provokes liberty to be used again, and so bringeth much to a man's knowledge.

Freedom of speech is central to most every other right that we hold dear in the United States and serves to strengthen the democracy of our great country. It is unfortunate, then, when actions occur that might be interpreted as contrary to this honored tenet.

We in the Netherlands have the right to demonstrate and the right to speak up if we don't agree with something.

When you pick up a guitar, you don't put down your First Amendment rights.

The United States gave me opportunities that my country of origin could not: freedom of the press and complete freedom of expression.

The Election Commission stopped me from campaigning. I accepted it and reached people through my prayer - in silence. People gave their approval. Praying in silence is important, and this spiritual prayer has paid off.

The First Amendment does not guarantee the press a constitutional right of special access to information not available to the general public, nor does it cloak the inmate with special rights of freedom of speech.

Journalists and everyone in America has a constitutional right to express themselves or write what they want to write.

I'm okay with anybody expressing their rights.

There is no nation so poor that it cannot afford free speech.

A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular; and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inferences.

Freedom of speech is, to all Americans, as oxygen is to the human condition. It is a right that has been irreversibly programmed into our hard drive. We are free to speak our minds. An artist's right to express him or herself as best suits their art, is the artist's prerogative and it is guaranteed.