"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers. Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees, of the people; and if the cause, the interest, and trust, is insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right to revoke the authority that they themselves have deputed, and to constitute other and better agents, attorneys and trustees."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
John Adams, A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law (1765)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_press
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Freedom of the press
112 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Freedom of the press →
Related Quotes
"When people talk of the Freedom of Writing, Speaking, or thinking, I cannot choose but laugh. No such thing ever exis…"
"The moment we no longer have a free press, anything can happen. What makes it possible for a totalitarian or any othe…"
"Truth is the ultimate end of the whole universe."
"Our No. 1 enemy is ignorance. And I believe that is the No. 1 enemy for everyone — it's not understanding what actual…"
"You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making tha…"
"I think the conviction of appellant or anyone else for exhibiting a motion picture abridges freedom of the press as s…"
"The Constitution specifically selected the press, which includes not only newspapers, books, and magazines, but also …"
"In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential…"
"Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government. And paramount among the responsibi…"
"The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a state: it ought not, therefore, to be restraine…"