"Liberty is the condition of progress. Without Liberty, there remains only barbarism. Without Liberty, there can be no civilization. If another man has not the right to think, you have not even the right to think that he thinks wrong. If every man has not the right to think, the people of New Jersey had no right to make a statute, or to adopt a constitution — no jury has the right to render a verdict, and no court to pass its sentence. In other words, without liberty of thought, no human being has the right to form a judgment. It is impossible that there should be such a thing as real religion without liberty. Without liberty there can be no such thing as conscience, no such word as justice. All human actions — all good, all bad — have for a foundation the idea of human liberty, and without Liberty there can be no vice, and there can be no virtue. Without Liberty there can be no worship, no blasphemy — no love, no hatred, no justice, no progress. Take the word Liberty from human speech and all the other words become poor, withered, meaningless sounds — but with that word realized — with that word understood, the world becomes a paradise."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Robert G. Ingersoll, at the trial of C.B. Reynolds for blasphemy (May 1887)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Liberty
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Liberty
215 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Liberty →
Related Quotes
"At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities, that have preva…"
"By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes his duty against the infl…"
"Liberty and good government do not exclude each other; and there are excellent reasons why they should go together. L…"
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to en…"
"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their n…"
"Liberty, according to my metaphysics, is an intellectual quality, an attribute that belongs not to fate nor chance. N…"
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go …"
"It is not unfrequent to hear men declaim loudly upon liberty, who, if we may judge by the whole tenor of their action…"
"Liberty A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty Is worth a whole eternity in bondage."
"Liberty, next to religion has been the motive of good deeds and the common pretext of crime, from the sowing of the s…"