Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.
Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.
Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.
The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
If we don't believe in free expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.
A free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, most certainly without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad.
Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.
The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.
Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.
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.
When one makes a Revolution, one cannot mark time; one must always go forward--or go back
Freedom of the press is not an end in itself but a means to the end of a free society.
To preserve the freedom of the human mind then and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will, and speak as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement
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
Freedom of press is limited to those who own one.
Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.
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.
Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy.
We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values.
or simply:
