I felt extremely uncomfortable as the focal point, in the spotlight. I really like the behind the scenes role, because all my freedom is there.

Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains.

Allow children to be happy in their own way, for what better way will they find?

I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner: ‚This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality.‘ Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.

Both free speech rights and property rights belong legally to individuals, but their real function is social, to benefit vast numbers of people who do not themselves exercise these rights.

We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties.

In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued – they may be essential to survival.

Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.

Dogmas are collective conceptual prisons. And the strange thing is that people love their prison cells because they give them a sense of security and a false sense of ‚I know.‘ Nothing has inflicted more suffering on humanity than its dogmas.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.

An Englishman thinks he is moral when he is only uncomfortable.

Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power.

Just as discipline and freedom are opposing forces that must be balanced, leadership requires finding the equilibrium in the dichotomy of many seemingly contradictory qualities between one extreme and another.

The fifth freedom is freedom from ignorance.

The time is near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves.

Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.

There is no such thing as part freedom.

Where I think the most work needs to be done is behind the camera, not in front of it.

I can relax with bums because I am a bum. I don’t like laws, morals, religions, rules. I don’t like to be shaped by society.

Among the many values in life, I appreciate freedom most.

The wisest use of American strength is to advance freedom.

Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains.

The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.

I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.

If society fits you comfortably enough, you call it freedom.

I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it.

Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?

I believe in only one thing: liberty; but I do not believe in liberty enough to want to force it upon anyone.

He who is brave is free.

Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.

The distinguishing sign of slavery is to have a price, and to be bought for it.

Our whole life is set up in the path of least resistance. We don’t want to suffer. We don’t want to feel discomfort. So the whole time, we’re living our lives in a very comfortable area. There’s no growth in that.

For me, it’s about becoming a mogul, owning my own projects, and establishing myself as a funding producer. That’s what’s big to me. The movies and all that stuff are great, but the fact that I’m in a position to do what I want to do, however I want to do it and when I want to do it is bigger.

Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice… No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out.

Any unarmed people are slaves, or are subject to slavery at any given moment.

You can hold yourself back from the sufferings of the world, that is something you are free to do and it accords with your nature, but perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could avoid.

Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.

The real power of the Buddha was that he had so much love. He saw people trapped in their notions of small separate self, feeling guilty or proud of that self, and he offered revolutionary teachings that resounded like a lion’s roar, like a great rising tide, helping people to wake up and break free from the prison of ignorance.

True liberal government is founded on the emancipation of men.

Slavery takes hold of few, but many take hold of slavery.

There was my name up in lights. I said, ‚God, somebody’s made a mistake.‘ But there it was, in lights. And I sat there and said, ‚Remember, you’re not a star.‘ Yet there it was up in lights.

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.

The intense happiness of our union is derived in a high degree from the perfect freedom with which we each follow and declare our own impressions.

The worst enemy of life, freedom and the common decencies is total anarchy; their second worst enemy is total efficiency.

Confronted with the impossibility of remaining faithful to one’s beliefs, and the equal impossibility of becoming free of them, one can be driven to the most inhuman excesses.

He only earns his freedom and his life Who takes them every day by storm.

Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.

Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.

All government, of course, is against liberty.

In many respects, the United States is a great country. Freedom of speech is protected more than in any other country. It is also a very free society.

We all have wings, but they have not been of any avail to us and if we could tear them off, we would do so.

We must be willing to pay a price for freedom.

Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love.

To be frank, it sometimes seems that the American idea of freedom has more to do with my freedom to do what I want than your freedom to do what you want. I think that, in Europe, we’re probably better at understanding how to balance those competing claims, though not a lot.

It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.

No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms.

Man, so long as he remains free, has no more constant and agonizing anxiety than find as quickly as possible someone to worship.

I think everyone should be with who they love.