Free Society Quotes - Page 7

The state is or can be master of money, but in a free society it is master of very little else.

William Beveridge

Money, Freedom, Government

"Voluntary Action" by William Beveridge, (Ch. 12), 1948.

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Americans and other Westerners who want their families to enjoy the blessings of life in a free society should understand that the life we've led since 1945 in the Western world is very rare in human history. Our children are unlikely to enjoy anything so placid, and may well spend their adult years in an ugly and savage world unless we decide that who and what we are is worth defending.

Mark Steyn

Children, Blessing, Years

Mark Steyn (2006). “America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It”, p.207, Regnery Publishing

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This freedom of movement is the very essence of our free society, setting us apart. Like the right of assembly and the right of association, it often makes all other rights meaningful-knowing, studying, arguing, exploring, conversing, observing and even thinking. Once the right to travel is curtailed, all other rights suffer, just as when curfew or home detention is placed on a person.

William O. Douglas

Meaningful, Home, Thinking

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In a free society, how can you commit a crime against yourself?

Jesse Ventura

Crime, Commit

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A truly free society is based on a vision of respect for people and what they value.

Charles Koch

People, Vision, Values

"Charles Koch: I'm Fighting to Restore a Free Society". www.wsj.com. April 2, 2014.

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If you had a free society you couldn't get people to go to war, if you had an intelligent type of upbringing in ones children. They would say; There must be many other ways of solving problems other then killing people.

Jacque Fresco

Children, War, Intelligent

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The library is central to our free society. It is a critical element in the free exchange of information at the heart of our democracy.

Vartan Gregorian

Heart, Democracy, Library

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Getting rid of the dictator is only a first step in establishing a free society. The dictatorship must also be disassembled.

George Ayittey

Firsts, Steps, Dictator

"George Ayittey: How to Defeat a Dictator". Interview with Thor Halvorssen, www.huffingtonpost.com.

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The desire to build a risk-free society has always been a sign of decadence. It has meant that the nation has given up, that it no longer believes in its destiny, that it has ceased to aspire to greatness, and has retired from history to pet itself.

Henry Fairlie

Believe, Greatness, Destiny

"Paralysis in a Risk-Free Society" by Henry Fairlie, www.washingtonpost.com. July 22, 1979.

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When we are unwilling to draw clear moral lines between free societies and fear societies, when we are unwilling to call the former good and the latter evil, we will not be able to advance the cause of peace because peace cannot be disconnected from freedom.

Natan Sharansky

Peace, Evil, Lines

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Unless we can make the philosophic foundations of a free society once more a living intellectual issue, and its implementation a task which challenges the ingenuity and imagination of our liveliest minds, the prospects of freedom are indeed dark. But if we can regain that belief in power of ideas which was the mark of liberalism at its best, the battle is not lost.

Friedrich August von Hayek

Adventure, Intellectual, Deeds

"Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics". Book by F. A. Hayek, "The Intellectuals and Socialism", p. 194, 1967.

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The lesson has already been learned with alcohol prohibition. We tried to engineer an alcohol-free society and ended up with huge criminal enterprises, government corruption, children lured into organized crime and random violence that took the lives of countless innocent people.

Kurt Schmoke

Children, Government, Random Violence

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In short, my vision of a responsible free society is one in which we discourage evil, but do not prohibit it. We make our children and students aware of the consequences of drug abuse and other forms of irresponsible behavior. But after all our persuading, if they still want to use harmful drugs, that is their privilege. In a free society, individuals must have the right to do right or wrong, as long as they don't threaten or infringe upon the rights or property of others. They must also suffer the consequences of their actions, as it is from consequences that they learn to choose properly

Mark Skousen

Freedom, Children, Rights

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Having confidence in a free society is to focus on the process of discovery in the marketplace of values rather than to focus on some imposed vision or goal. Using governmental force to impose a vision on others is intellectual sloth and typically results in unintended, perverse consequences. Achieving the free society requires courage to think, to talk, and to act - especially when it is easier to do nothing.

Ken Schoolland

Freedom, Thinking, Discovery

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... In a free society, skeptics are the watchdogs against irrationalism - the consumer advocates of ideas. Debunking is not simply the divestment of bunk; its utility is in offering a better alternative, along with a lesson on how thinking goes wrong.

Michael Shermer

Thinking, Offering, Ideas

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The essential psychological requirement of a free society is the willingness on the part of the individual to accept responsibility for his life. - Edith Packer
When the government fears the people, it is liberty. When the people fear the government, it is tyranny.

Thomas Paine

Responsibility, Government, People

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A free society is one in which individuals are free to discover for themselves the available range of alternatives.

Israel Kirzner

Alternatives, Individual, Range

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For the next century, the Republicans have agreed that we will promote the dignity and future of every individual by building a free society under a limited, accountable government that protects liberty, security and prosperity for a brighter American dream.

Todd Tiahrt

Dream, Government, Liberty

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I think it's very dangerous for a free society to have all the information distilled and packaged by our government and given to us. Do we know to this day who we killed in Iraq? I don't think so. If bringing war into the living room means that we as a people will say we don't want to do it that way anymore we want to figure out other ways to solve these conflicts, then I would say that photography and television have done us a great service.

Michael Deaver

Photography, War, Mean

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Of course, there can be serious injustices within free societies.

Natan Sharansky

Serious, Injustice, Courses

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The liberal arts inform and enlighten the independent citizen of a democracy in the use of his own resources.... They enlarge his capacity for self-knowledge and expand his opportunities for self-improvement.... They are the wellsprings of a free society.

Alfred Whitney Griswold

Art, Independent, Opportunity

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Whatever its future success as a historical movement, anarchism will remain a fundamental part of human experience, for the drive for freedom is one of our deepest needs and the vision of a free society is one of our oldest dreams. Neither can ever be fully repressed; both will outlive all rulers and their States.

Peter Marshall

Dream, Historical, Vision

Peter Marshall (2009). “Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism”, p.15, PM Press

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I accept that in a free society you have to justify reductions in people's liberties. I accept that, bearing in mind my starting point is that the most important human right is the right to life.

John Howard

People, Mind, Important

National Summit on Terrorism, August 05, 2005.

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In a free society, every opportunity comes with three obligations. First, you must seize it. You must mold it into a work that brings value to others. Second, you must live it. Opportunity is nurtured only by action. Third, you must defend the freedom to pursue opportunities. You must embrace these three obligations as if the future of the United States depended on it. In fact, it does.

Roberto Goizueta

Work, Opportunity, Mold

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An armed society is a free society.

Howie Carr

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