What they have said about freedom of expression, some of America's greatest thinkers

"Without the freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; And there can be no such thing as public freedom, without the freedom of speech "

Benjamin Franklin

"It would not have been decided that all printers would not print anything until they were sure that nobody would offend, then very few prints would be printed"

Benjamin Franklin

"But none of the information tools has been more sacred, or has not been treated with more gentleness and care by America's settlers than the press"

John Adams

"Freedom of the press is fundamental to state security"

John Adams

"If people were excluded from giving their opinion on an issue that could include the most severe and alarming consequences that may require human examination, reason does not benefit us. Freedom of speech can be removed, and dumb and silent we can be led, like the sheep, towards the butcher "

George Washington
"Our freedom depends on freedom of the press, and it can not be limited without being lost"

Thomas Jefferson

"Congress will not adopt any law that respects the creation of a religion, or which prohibits their free exercise; Or reduce freedom of speech or press; Or the right of people to gather peacefully, and to ask the government for a correction of the violations. "

US Constitution

"If I was left to decide whether to have a government without newspapers or a government-free newspaper, I would not hesitate at all to resolve the second"

Thomas Jefferson

"Freedom of speech is the mainstay of a free government: When this support is lifted, the constitution of a free society breaks down and over its ruins rises tyranny. The republics and the limited monarchies secure their strength from a popular examination of magistrates' actions. "

Benjamin Franklin

"It is a function of the word that liberates people from the chains of irrational fears"

Louis D. Brandeis

"We are so concerned about flattering the majority that we lose sight of how often it is necessary to maintain the freedom of the minority as well as the individual to face the majority"

William F. Buckley Jr., founder of National Review magazine

"Freedom is not a luxury we can enjoy when we finally have security and prosperity and enlightenment; It precedes all of these, for you have the goose we can not have security, prosperity or enlightenment "

Henry Steele Commager, historian

"We can not have a half-slavish and half-free society; Nor can we have half-slave and half-free mindset. If we create an atmosphere in which men are afraid to think independently, to ask without fear, to express themselves freely, we will finally create that kind of society in which men are no longer keen to think so Independent, or ask without fear. "

Henry Steele Commager, historian

"Freedom of speech and freedom of the press have not been given to people in order to say things that are pleasing to others and which are based on the ubiquitous opinion, but the right to say the things they dislike, the right to Saying things that convey new and yet unexpected thoughts, the right to say things, even though they may be wrong. "

Samuel Gompers

"We all hesitate to acknowledge that our freedoms are of the kind of people we hate and fear today - disobedient people, striking peace ... in one word, free people ... Freedom is always won at a high price. Even those who are ready to pay must acknowledge that the price is high. "

Gerald W. Johnson, journalist

"Freedom of conscience, education, speech, and assembly are among the foundations of democracy, and all would disappear if press freedom would be successfully challenged"

Franklin D. Roosevelt