Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans and to everyone around the world who values freedom. Thanks to those of you who responded to my tweet last night asking for your favorite quotes about freedom. Here are some of those, plus some of my favorites.
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. -John 8:36 (tweeted by @vancematthew)
America, home of the free because of the brave. -unknown (tweeted by @jillbwritepaint)
Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. -Abraham Lincoln (tweeted by @contentntexas)
The cause of Freedom is the cause of God! -Samuel Bowles (tweeted by @contentntexas)
Freedom without boundaries is like a river without banks. -unknown (tweeted by@vaughangranier)
He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition. -Thomas Paine
History does not teach fatalism. There are moments when the will of a handful of free men breaks through determinism and opens up new roads. -Charles de Gaulle
Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. -Dwight D. Eisenhower
The patriot’s blood is the seed of Freedom’s tree. -Thomas Campbell
Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide. -Napoleon Bonaparte
My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular. -Adlai Stevenson
It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you. -unknown
We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls. -Robert J. McCracken
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. -Thomas Paine
Freedom is the oxygen of the soul. -Moshe Dayan
There are two freedoms – the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought. -Charles Kingsley
No one is free when others are oppressed. -Unknown
Men fight for freedom, then they begin to accumulate laws to take it away from themselves. ~unknown
Freedom is that instant between when someone tells you to do something and when you decide how to respond. -Jeffrey Borenstein
Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have. -Harry Emerson Fosdick
Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. -Woodrow Wilson
We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it. -William Faulkner
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck. -Frederick Douglass
Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth. -George Washington
I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. -James Madison
Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. -Mahatma Gandhi
Order without liberty and liberty without order are equally destructive. -Theodore Roosevelt
Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better. -Albert Camus
Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves. -D.H. Lawrence
Freedom is the will to be responsible to ourselves. -Nietzsche
The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding. -Louis D. Brandeis
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it. -George Bernard Shaw
The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion. -Edmund Burke
Freedom is never free. -unknown
He who is brave is free. -Seneca
While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions. -Stephen Covey
Any existence deprived of freedom is a kind of death. -Gen Michel Aoun
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. -Martin Luther King Jr
Only the educated are free. -Epictetus
To know how to free oneself is nothing; the arduous thing is to know what to do with one’s freedom. -Andre Gide
Every human has four endowments- self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change. -Stephen R. Covey
All good things are wild, and free. -Henry David Thoreau
Give me liberty or give me death. -Patrick Henry
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. -Ronald Reagan
Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. -Ronald Reagan
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. -John F. Kennedy
The best road to progress is freedom’s road. -John F. Kennedy
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. -George Washington
Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry is own weight, this is a frightening prospect. -Eleanor Roosevelt
For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. -Nelson Mandela
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free. -Jesus, Luke 4:18
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love. -Galatians 5:13
Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil. -1 Peter 2:16
What are your favorite quotes about freedom and liberty? Some listed above or have you some others?
Awesome post Paul, what a great idea to get freedom and liberty quotes! My little contribution is just a line from a song by Janis Joplin, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose”. Have an excellent Independence day my friend!
Thanks Charles.
A great selection of quotes! Thanks for sharing Paul!
Thanks Paula!
Thanks Paul
Excellent, sorry I missed this yesterday!!!
THANK YOU PATRIOT!
Excellent quotes
“Freedom is not Free”
True.
Paul – thank you for compiling these quotes for the public to consider. I must say though, Stephen Covey was a great friend and mentor of mine. He has never and would never connect freedom with liberty or liberty with freedom. He is the very one who helped me become aware of the difference. 99.9% of people have been tricked into believing liberty = freedom and vice versa, but this intentionally engineered belief is a propagandic tool for control over the masses. I’m sure Stephen, if alive, aware of this page, and had the time to do so, would clarify for you Paul, the actual definition of his quotes you’ve listed. Because although you have done a great thing by sharing the above quotes, you have inadvertently contributed to the confusion that continues to be perpetuated regarding freedom and liberty by grouping these very separate words, with very different meanings, into a single definitive title/headline and subsequent lesson (delivered by quotes).
Hey Charles, thanks for the comment. I readily acknowledge I use the words “freedom” and “liberty” interchangeably. If you’re going to make a big deal about saying that’s wrong, the least you could do is explain the difference so we can get it right, don’t you think?
Then it’s not really freedom now is it? “Freedom is not free” has got to be one of the most oppressive “scripts” ever repeated. The fact our “freedom” is associated with the killing of “foreign” members of our global human family is disgusting. God wants us ALL to have freedom – Man creates rules, soldiers, and cops to keep us from having ANY freedom. In this world, we have what is called LIBERTY. That is, the ability to exercise certain PERMISSIONS within an established circle of boundary. The only FREE people in this world are the ones who are free in mind. Anyone who participates in the “holiday” of “independence” is not free, but delusional.
Charles, are you suggesting that it is immoral for anyone to fight for their own liberty? That when a people are oppressed by their own government (or another government) – their liberty taken away – that the only moral response is to accept oppression?
I guess I’m confused because I thought the U.S. was originally a bunch of colonies, which were heavily taxed and controlled by imperial, European monarchies. The colonists stood up for liberty and declared their independence, and it was the British monarchy that decided they would rather go to war with and kill their own colonists to try to prevent them from having liberty.
FREEDOM = The WILL, POWER, and RIGHT to make choices where the consequences of those choices are solely governed by God’s established Laws and Natures Principles (unbreakable laws that govern the consequences of individual values or choices).
LIBERTY = OPTIONS to choose from within internally or externally imposed restrictions or boundaries.
The so-called “powers that be” or “ruling elite” do all they can to rob our MINDS of freedom and give our BODIES liberty.
The mere act of imposing liberty on the body will cause most people’s minds to operate as if it were imprisoned.
They set up restricted boundaries for our BODIES so our MINDS will follow – and they are very successful in their endeavors!
ie; having to pay for food and water, speed LIMITS, court, credit LIMIT, MINIMUM wage, jail/prison, price tags, locks on doors, “national or state park” entrance fees, open & closing times, “bosses” ” supervisors” “managers”, airline boarding searches, copyrights, patents, monopolies, corporation rules, drivers licenses, passports, schools, “teachers”, “principles”, holidays and birthdays, and state and federal “laws”.
The only FREEDOM man cannot EVER truly take from us is our freedom to choose our response to anything that happens with or without us, to or for us, and inside or outside of us.
Most people live their lives within an “I HAVE to” paradigm.
This is a result of living in a LIBERTY centered world.
This would not happen in a free world.
The more people that wake up to the truth they are free to do whatever they CHOOSE, as long as it does not violate the God-given rights of their fellow man or the established Laws of God, the better for everyone.
As long as our thoughts, words, and actions are guided by LOVE for our Creator, ourselves, AND our fellow man, with not a single person deemed unworthy or expendable, we can be sure to have God’s approval and support, our fellow man’s approval and support, and most importantly, OUR own approval and support.
@charleshubner
these are great! thanks so much Paul! 🙂
“Freedom is not FREE, it comes with a Huge Cost! “
Great to make any other point non other than what you just put Paul.
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
Some great quotes. Here’s a quote I read somewhere a while ago “What good is freedom without the liberty to enjoy it”
Liberty is like the right hand and Freedom is like left hand both are important, help me understand I want to right music concerning liberty thanks again Anna
You can not have freedom if it comes at the cost of someone else’s. Not my quote but like it.
These are great! Thanks for sharing!