The quote database

If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment , it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.

Every slave is a stolen man; every slaveholder is a man-stealer.

Convince me that one man may rightfully make another man his slave, and I will no longer subscribe to the Declaration of Independence.

Hence, I cannot but regard oppression in every form--and most of all, that which turns a man into a thing--with indignation and abhorrence.

Show me the government which can be maintained only by destroying the rights of a portion of the people; and you will indicate the duty of openly revolting against it.

What you demand for yourselves, in virtue of your manhood, I demand for the enslaved at the South, on the same ground.

Arbitration is the true method of settlement of international as well as local or individual differences.

We want no wars of conquest; we must avoid the temptation of territorial aggression.

The right to speak freely and to promote diversity of ideas and programs is therefore one of the chief distinctions that sets us apart from totalitarian regimes.

The vitality of civil and political institutions in our society depends on free discussion.

Free speech--the glory of our system of government--should not be sacrificed on anything less than plain and objective proof of danger that the evil advocated is imminent.

The first duty of law is to keep sound the society it serves.