Despotism can only exist in darkness, and there are too many lights now in the political firmament to permit it to remain anywhere, as it has heretofore done, almost everywhere.

Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.

The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.

Everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear.

Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do.

Although personally I am quite content with existing explosives, I feel we must not stand in the path of improvement.

The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.

The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.

It is a pleasant thing to reflect upon, and furnishes a complete answer to those who contend for the gradual degeneration of the human species, that every baby born into the world is a finer one than the last.

Freedom in general may be defined as the absence of obstacles to the realization of desires.

We humans for millions of years were nomadic. We associated freedom and well-being with the ability to move into open spaces, to find places more suited to hunting.

For all who love freedom and peace, the world without Saddam Hussein’s regime is a better and safer place.

Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.

People have more freedom to bring more of their personal qualities into the role they play once they have established themselves and their competence is no longer in question. But this is always within limits.

Reading and writing, like everything else, improve with practice. And, of course, if there are no young readers and writers, there will shortly be no older ones. Literacy will be dead, and democracy – which many believe goes hand in hand with it – will be dead as well.

Yes, we’ve still got more work to do. More work to do for every American still in need of a good job or a raise, paid leave or a decent retirement; for every child who needs a sturdier ladder out of poverty or a world-class education; for everyone who has not yet felt the progress of these past seven and a half years.

The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members.

The credit of advancing science has always been due to individuals and never to the age.

The only definition by which America’s best days are behind it is on a purely relative basis.

How wonderful it is to be an American. We have known the best of times and the worst of times.

I know I got it made while the masses of black people are catchin‘ hell, but as long as they ain’t free, I ain’t free.

Necessity is blind until it becomes conscious. Freedom is the consciousness of necessity.

We don’t hide our space program. We don’t keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That’s the way freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it for a minute.

I think everyone should be with who they love.

Democracy passes into despotism.

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say: ‚This is my country.‘

We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.

The spread of civilisation may be likened to a fire; first, a feeble spark, next a flickering flame, then a mighty blaze, ever increasing in speed and power.

When the prison doors are opened, the real dragon will fly out.

The only certain freedom’s in departure.

In a democracy, the well-being, individuality and happiness of every citizen is important for the overall prosperity, peace and happiness of the nation.

Man, unlike anything organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments.

My Democratic friends just can’t accept the fact that the American people chose Donald Trump to be president – it’s called democracy. My advice to them, and I say this gently: Fill out a ‚Hurt Feelings Report‘ and let’s move on.

I am the son of a freedom fighter, and a son of a freedom fighter automatically imbibes the value of democracy.

If you’re a surfer, you just want to surf. You don’t know if anyone’s going to see you, and you don’t really care if they see you. You just live for that feeling.

There is hardly such a thing as a war in which it makes no difference who wins. Nearly always one side stands more or less for progress, the other side more or less for reaction.

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.

People have been fed this diet of pabulum, rights, and impulsive freedom. There’s just an absolute starvation for the other side of the story.

Love to everybody who is out there progressing and taking things to the next level.

The ballot is stronger than the bullet.

A dark cloud is no sign that the sun has lost his light; and dark black convictions are no arguments that God has laid aside His mercy.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

The over-all point is that new technology will not necessarily replace old technology, but it will date it. By definition. Eventually, it will replace it. But it’s like people who had black-and-white TVs when color came out. They eventually decided whether or not the new technology was worth the investment.

To enjoy freedom we have to control ourselves.

Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer, but is the incentive to progress.

Democratic societies are unfit for the publication of such thunderous revelations as I am in the habit of making.

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

If it’s illegal to rock and roll, throw my ass in jail!

The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts.

The men and women of Afghanistan are building a nation that is free, and proud, and fighting terror – and America is honored to be their friend.

When I am free to train and free to move, I feel like a gorilla in the jungle. Then, when there are a bunch of media obligations, I feel like I have been captured and am being kept on display.

In the flush of love’s light, we dare be brave. And suddenly we see that love costs all we are, and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.

Too many Christians live their lives like slaves – to the devil – because they believe his lies more than they trust God.

I have warned many times about the guaranteed dangers of betting with your heart instead of your head – big darkness, soon come – but every once in a while you get a fair chance to have it both ways, and the annual NCAA basketball Tournament is one of them.

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err.

For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny.

If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never have got anywhere.

I remain convinced that obstinate addiction to ordinary language in our private thoughts is one of the main obstacles to progress in philosophy.