Freedom quotes
2.3K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside freedom — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"We've been blessed with the opportunity to stand for something - for liberty and freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to."
"No society can possibly be built on a denial of individual freedom."
"I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong."
"The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular."
"Independence of my conception means nothing less than the realization of the "Kingdom of God" within you and on this earth."
"In true democracy every man and woman is taught to think for himself or herself."
"Prussia: freedom of movement with a muzzle. Austria: an isolation cell in which screaming is allowed."
"To freemen, threats are impotent."
"The intense happiness of our union is derived in a high degree from the perfect freedom with which we each follow and declare our own impressions."
"While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not to violate the conscience of others, ever considering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to Him only in this case are they answerable."
"I anticipate with pleasing expectations that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers."
"The value of liberty was thus enhanced in our estimation by the difficulty of its attainment, and the worth of characters appreciated by the trial of adversity."
"The boatmen appeared to lead an easy and contented life, and we thought that we should prefer their employment ourselves to many professions which are much more sought after. They suggested how few circumstances are necessary to the well-being and serenity of man, how indifferent all employments are, and that any may seem noble and poetic to the eyes of men, if pursued with sufficient buoyancy and freedom."
"I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad."
"I make my own time. I make my own terms. I cannot see how God or Nature can ever get the start of me."
"Resolve and thou art free."
"Man is created free, and is free, even though born in chains."
"Your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom."
"Whatever liberates our spirit, without also giving us mastery over ourselves, is destructive."
"Merely to breathe freely does not mean to live."
