Freedom Of The Press Quotes

• Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.

  Walter Cronkite

  Democracy, Important, Censorship

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• Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Freedom, Media, Liberty

  Thomas Jefferson, Jerry Holmes (2002). “Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts”, p.71, Rowman & Littlefield

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  Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Freedom, Independent, Science

  Andrew M. Allison, Willard Cleon Skousen, M. Richard Maxfield, Benjamin Franklin (1982). “The Real Benjamin Franklin”

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• No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Men, Interesting, Freedom Of Speech

  Thomas Jefferson, Jerry Holmes (2002). “Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts”, p.192, Rowman & Littlefield

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• A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.

  John F. Kennedy

  Christian, Peace, War

  Kennedy, John F. (1963). “Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1962”, p.163, Best Books on

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• Freedom of the press is a precious privilege that no country can forego.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Country, Privilege, Journalism

  Mahatma Gandhi (1959). “India of My Dreams”, p.263, Rajpal & Sons

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• Freedom of conscience, of education, of speech, of assembly are among the very fundamentals of democracy and all of them would be nullified should freedom of the press ever be successfully challenged.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Presidential, Freedom Of Speech, Democracy

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• The Government's power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government. The press was protected so that it could bare the secrets of government and inform the people. Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.

  Hugo Black

  Peace, War, Government

  "New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713". Concurring opinion, 1971.

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• Freedom of the Press, if it means anything at all, means the freedom to criticize and oppose

  George Orwell

  Mean, Criticize, Ifs

  George Orwell, Keith Gessen (2009). “All Art Is Propaganda: Critical Essays”, p.253, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable.

  James Madison

  People, President, Liberty

  James Madison, Ralph Ketcham “Selected Writings of James Madison”, Hackett Publishing

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• Freedom of the press is essential to the preservation of a democracy; but there is a difference between freedom and license. Editorialists who tell downright lies in order to advance their own agendas do more to discredit the press than all the censors in the world.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Lying, Order, Differences

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• The only security of all is in a free press.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Free Press, Security, Presses

  Letter to Marquis de Lafayette, 4 Nov. 1823

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• The press is the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man, and improving him as a rational, moral and social being

  Thomas Jefferson

  Men, Media, Mind

  Thomas Jefferson, H. A. Washington (2011). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being His Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private”, p.324, Cambridge University Press

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• Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.

  Jim Morrison

  Life, Media, Uprising

  "Readers recommend: songs about control" by Peter Kimpton, www.theguardian.com. March 5, 2015.

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• The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.

  George Mason

  Government, Liberty, Presses

  Virginia Bill of Rights article 12 (1776)

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• Why should freedom of speech and freedom of press be allowed? Why should a government which is doing what it believes to be right allow itself to be criticized? It would not allow opposition by lethal weapons. Ideas are much more fatal things than guns. Why should any man be allowed to buy a printing press and disseminate pernicious opinions calculated to embarrass the government?

  Vladimir Lenin

  Believe, Gun, Men

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• Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. Republics and limited monarchies derive their strength and vigor from a popular examination into the action of the magistrates.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Taken, Government, Support

  "On Freedom of Speech and the Press". Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania Gazette, November 17, 1737.

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• Those who suppress freedom always do so in the name of law and order.

  John Lindsay

  Peace, Freedom, War

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• Our liberty depends on freedom of the press.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Liberty, Depends, Presses

  Source: abcnews.go.com

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• There are laws to protect the freedom of the press's speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press

  Mark Twain

  Law, Media Control, People

  Mark Twain (1992). “Twain: Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, and Essays, Volume 1: 1852-1890”, p.726, Library of America

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• A free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, most certainly without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad.

  Albert Camus

  4th Of July, Media, Be Good

  "TV news crisis needs a radical solution" by Richard Tait, www.theguardian.com. September 18, 2009.

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• If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, Maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. ... But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Country, Greatness, Russia

  I've Been to the Mountaintop, delivered 3 April 1968, Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), Memphis, Tennessee

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• I have great respect for the news and great respect for freedom of the press and all of that.

  Donald Trump

  News, Presses, Great Respect

  "Full transcript of Trump press conference", www.bbc.com. January 11, 2017.

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• Wherever despotism abounds, the sources of public information are the first to be brought under its control. Where ever the cause of liberty is making its way, one of its highest accomplishments is the guarantee of the freedom of the press.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Accomplishment, Freedom Of Speech, Liberty

  "Foundations of the Republic; Speeches and Addresses" by Calvin Coolidge, 1926.

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• Absolute freedom of the press to discuss public questions is a foundation stone of American liberty.

  Herbert Hoover

  Freedom, Media, Presidential

  United States. President (1929-1933 : Hoover), Herbert Hoover (1974). “Herbert Hoover: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President”

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